


Discovery Devotion Destiny

by Kayemen22



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Action/Adventure, DC Comics References, F/M, Light Angst, Mysticism, Romance, Some justice league, Superheroes, Temporary Amnesia, Vigilantism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:35:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 195,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25355611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayemen22/pseuds/Kayemen22
Summary: In the blink of an eye, everything changed. Oliver now had to figure out how to balance being the Mayor of Star City with being the Green Arrow. He had to do it all while being the parent to a crawling baby and a mischevous teen. New enemies would threaten all of it. He's going to need his wife...except she doesn't even remember he's her husband. Or that she has freaky powers.
Relationships: Felicity Smoak/Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 11





	1. Eluding the Illusion

**Chapter 1**

**Eluding the Illusion**

_"Don't part with your illusions._

_When they are gone, you may still exist,_

_but you have ceased to live. "_

-Mark Twain

* * *

We live in a fantasy world...a world of illusions. The great task in life is to find reality. That was proving quite difficult for a doctor who thought she'd just climbed out of hell. In the past few moments she finally came to a conclusion. Katherine Robins was dead.

It was the logical conclusion to her current predicament. Her eyes opened and there sat her father. Katie distinctly remembers the last conversation with his doctor, and how he told her that her father's health had significantly declined and how his brain activity had ceased. She expected to come home and hope to find an alternative to just taking her father off life support. She expected to come home and find him in a hospital bed where she would make him a promise that she wouldn't give up until he was better. What she didn't expect was to be the one in the hospital bed, him sitting above her, awake, looking completely healthy. The only way to explain this was that on her way home, she died, and so did he and now they were in some alternate dimension where the dead go. She hadn't decided if this was heaven or hell just yet. She questioned him, and he questioned her, and then she saw a ring on her hand that rested on a specific finger. When she turned back to her father she expected him to explain, but instead he told her to give him a moment before he stood to his feet and rushed out of the door.

Katie looked back down to her hand, and looked down to the ring, and this time she really looked at it. Really looked over the pristine design, and marveled at it's beauty. She let out a sharp breath before dropping her hand and looking back over to the door hoping her father would return. Soon her eyes looked around the room she was in.

"Where the hell am I?" she muttered to herself. She realized she wouldn't get that answer from the bed, and so she decided she'd have to get up. She pushed the covers aside, and slightly lifted her feet, but quickly stopped at the sudden soreness at the move. "What the hell? How long have I been in this bed?" she once again tried again, this time expecting the sensations as she turned to place her feet on the floor. Once she was fully sitting, she paused for a second, taking in a deep breath before she dropped her feet to the cold linoleum floor and lifted herself to stand. Muscles cracked as she moved to a position she figures she hadn't taken in a while. Her eyes lifted to the door, the distance not that far, but to her it looked as if it were miles away. With one more deep breath, she began taking lazy steps toward the door. Her eyes looked down to her feet in frustration at the slow pace. She shook her head because she has no idea how she got to this point. She has no idea why her body seems like it hasn't moved in a long time. She was actually out of breath when she finally reached the door, but she ignored it as she reached forward and grabbed the door knob. A frown fell to her features when she realized the door was locked.

"The hell, " she muttered as she relentlessly tried to pry open the door. Soon she gave up all together and decided the beat a fist against it instead. "Hey! Is someone there!"

Jacob Robins' eyes were locked on the screen that show in front of him. He shook his head at the sight.

"Someone please open the door!" his daughter continued pounding against the door, and he knew at some point he was have to return to her, answer questions he's sure she has.

"Sir," Martin had been standing just a few feet behind his boss watching the screen as well.

"She doesn't remember anything from the past three and a half years." Jacob said as he continues to look to the screen. "The last thing she remembers is returning to Starling after all that shit with ARGUS and Ra's and those months where you lost her." Jacob turned to Martin who stood glancing from his boss to the surveillance footage. "How did this happen?"

"Sir, I'm not sure, on your order we can send in the doctors, but right now we need to make the call." Martin said, and Jacob sighed turning back to the screen.

"She doesn't even know he's alive. Having him walk in there and-"

"He's her husband." Martin interrupted. "And you've made too much progress with that relationship with him and him letting you be apart of their lives for you to just throw it all away by not calling him to tell him that she's awake."

"First, I need to know how the doctors want to handle this. I don't want to bombard her with everything if it will cause her more stress. Right now she's scared, and she's lost and I just want to make sure we handle this carefully." There was a knock at the door.

"That's the doctor." Martin says, and Jacob lets out a sigh before standing to his feet before turning to the man.

"Right, let' go." Jacob says already headed for the door.

Oliver wasn't ready for this. It came too quickly, and too sudden and he wasn't quite sure how to handle this. He sat, eyes closed as he took in another deep breath.

"You're being so over-dramatic." Oliver opened his eyes and turned to the voice of the teenage girl who sat a little too comfortably behind the wheel of his car. "I've read the stupid driver's manual, went to those pointless driver's ed classes and now it's time for you to put on your big boy pants and teach me how to do this because I want to get my license."

"Ari, I just don't understand why you're so in a hurry for this. I mean you have your own driver."

"And I love Hank to death, but I don't want to be the kid in high school who has to be driven everywhere." Ari turned pulling on her seat belt before leaning forward and turning on the car. Oliver only got more nervous as he sat up a bit straighter. "And you have to help me, so you can't freak out."

"I'm not freaking out." Oliver said turning to her and she just gave a knowing look. "Fine, I am freaking out, but we can do this." he turned back to the road. "Hands on the wheel, ten and two." Ari complied raising her hands to the steering wheel. "Ok, now check your mirrors to make sure it's safe to proceed." Ari turned, glancing over to the mirror beside her, before turning and looking to the rearview mirror. "Ok, when you feel comfortable, shift the car into drive and slowly turn and-" Ari grabbed the gear and shift the car into drive, before pressing the gas. Oliver braced himself because she didn't exactly go as slow as he hoped she would. "Ari, slow, slow-"

"Hey, I'm good, just-" she glanced over to him, and he turned to her with wide eyes before turning back to the road just as someone was crossing the street.

"Ari, eyes on the road!" the girl quickly turned and the moment she saw the woman, her feet quickly stomped on the breaks causing both of them to jerk forward, and the woman in front of them turned to stop and glare before continuing.

Oliver and Ari sat there for a few moments in silence as they both try to ignore the ramming of their rapid heard beats.

"Ari, put the car in park." Oliver said, his voice trying to remain calm. She glanced over to him, but he didn't even turn to her.

"Oliver, c'mon, I can-"

"Park the car, Ari!" he said once again turning to her and it was the look that told her she should do nothing but comply. And so she did, before unbuckling he seat belt, turning and grabbing her bag. "Ari, I'm-"

"I'm just going to walk home." the teen said before stepping out of the car and walking away. Oliver sat there for a moment, and let out a deep breath, mentally beating himself up for totally handling this situation all wrong. He unbuckled his own seat belt before getting out and taking the driver's seat and heading home as well. They weren't too far from the house, so Ari was just walking into the house when he pulled into the driveway. Oliver stepped out of the car just as Hank was walking from around the house.

"How did it go?" Hank asked, and Oliver let out a heavy sigh. "That bad, huh?"

"Actually, she was fine, I on the other hand couldn't get over the fact that I was actually teaching my teenager how to drive and I may have had a minor freak out." Oliver shook his head and Hank just chuckled. "I thought I was ready for this."

"Yeah, it's hard when they grow up." Hank replied and Oliver looked over to the man and gave a nod. Oliver had learned a lot about the men he's hired to keep his family safe. Hank was a divorcee, with two kids who were both in college. "Trust me, it never gets any easier to see them start to grow up and not need you anymore. Hey, the offer still stands if you want me to teach her."

"No, I can do this. I just have to get over my own anxiety." Oliver sighed before continuing into the house. The moment he stepped inside, he smiled at the sound of his daughter's breathless laughter coming from the living room.

"Oh thank God, there you are!" Thea called and Oliver frowned as he walked in just as his sister was picking up Robyn into her arms. She turned to Oliver with wide eyes. "You're back."

"I am." Oliver said walking over, and the moment Robyn saw him she began squirming in Thea's hands.

"Dah Dah!" she yelled, and Oliver smiled as he reached forward pulling the baby into his arms.

"Did your auntie Thea lose you again?" he looked over to his sister who just shook her head.

"It's so not my fault. I placed her on the floor to play, I turned for two seconds and by the time I turned back around, she was gone." Thea looked over to the baby who was content with squirming in her father's arms as she tried climbing up, "She's like a little baby ninja." Thea shook her head before turning to pick up the baby's toys. "So I heard Ari stomp up the stairs a few minutes ago. I take it the driving lesson didn't go well."

"It could've gone better." Oliver replied looking down to his daughter who was now tugging at the zipper on his jacket. "I may have freaked out a little bit." Thea turned to him and laughed. "It's not funny. I should be able to do this. This is one of the things that is in the dad hand book." Thea gave the man a smile and he shook his head. "And I know I'm not her dad, but-"

"Ollie, you're the closest thing Ari has to a dad right now, and I think she sees that too and it doesn't bother her." she turned to her brother and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"I don't know, I just got in that car and saw her sitting behind the wheel and I just—" he shook his head. "She's about to turn sixteen, and in two years she's going to be eighteen and going off to college, and just the thought makes me nervous." Oliver held up his daughter who giggled as she reached forward and placed her tiny hands on her dad's face. "I'm not ready to lose her." he placed a kiss to Robyn's head before turning to his sister.

"Ollie, you're not losing her. You're just freaking out because she's getting older and you don't feel you're ready for it, but I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but she's going to grow up, she's going to drive, she's going to have a boyfriend—" Oliver groaned at those words and turned away before carrying his daughter into the kitchen. Thea laughed as she followed behind him. "I should head out, we're still planning the kick off for the Anti-Crime Initiative this weekend."

"How's that coming along?" Oliver asked as he strapped Robyn into her high chair.

"Everything is going as planned. Everything should run smoothly. You just have to make sure you show up on time." Thea said and Oliver didn't say anything as he turned back to his daughter whose babbling caught his attention. He looked down to her and smiled. "Ollie, your day-"

"Jammed pack like every other day. I know Thea." he said before placing a kiss to the top of his daughter's head. "But that day doesn't start for a couple of hours."

"Ollie, I know-"

"Speedy," Oliver turned back to his sister. "You have no idea how much of my time is not dedicated to this little girl. I get pictures sent to me from her day care of her standing up, or of her calling out my name when I'm not there." Oliver shook his head before looking back down to the little girl who contently ate her dry cereal that was scattered in front of her. "A few hours of my day is hers." he looked back to his sister. "A few hours of the day I'm not the mayor, and I'm not the Green Arrow. I'm just her dad and I won't rush those few hours for anything."

"Ollie, really I get it. You're balancing a lot and I know Robyn and Ari are your priorities. You don't have to explain that to me. I know doing all of this is stretching you a bit thin, I just don't want you to forget about your other responsibilities."

"I won't." Oliver assured and Thea gave him a nod before grabbing her jacket and pulling it on.

"So during your City budget meeting-" Oliver stared down to his daughter and just shook his head. "Try to look like you actually want to be there. Afterward, you have the ribbon cutting for the opening of the Star City's job resource center. That's where I will meet you. I have to keep an eye on that-"

"Speedy-" Oliver's warning tone caused the woman to purse her lips and just pull on a smile as she looked over to her niece. "If the next words out of your mouth is something we don't want my daughter to repeat then how about you just keep it to yourself." Thea simply nodded before grabbing her purse. "And Annabelle-"

"Nope." Thea said with a shake of her head and Oliver looked over to the woman. They'd had many conversations about said woman and every single time it ended the exact same way and Thea just wasn't in the mood to argue once again. "I know how this conversation will go and I for one don't have time for it. You're a guy, you don't see it."

"Thea, that's not fair and you know it."

"Whatever Ollie, I will see you at the opening, and if she starts crossing a line, I will gladly push her back over it." Thea said with a smile before walking over and peppering kisses on Robyn's cheeks causing the girl to erupt in laughter. "And I will see you later my little peanut butter cup. I just want to put you in my purse and take you with me." she looked up to her brother who just shook his head and the woman gave a pout. "But your daddy won't let me." she turned back to her niece and with one final kiss she turned and headed for the door.

Oliver chuckled before turning and picking up his daughter in his arms.

"Your aunt is crazy." he muttered before turning and heading upstairs get ready for their day.

Katie's eyes moved as instructed following the doctor's small flashlight as he moved it from one side to the other. He hummed before he slipped the flashlight back into his lab coat pocket.

"It's as I thought." the doctor says before looking over to where Jacob stood on the other side of the room where he'd been impatiently waiting for the doctor to say something. "Physically I don't see a cause for the memory loss." he turned back to Katie. "Your CT scan was clear, and so was your MRI. I don't think the memory loss is caused by any neurological damage."

"Wait memory loss." Katie says glancing over to her father before turning back to the doctor in front of her and then her eyes looked down to the wedding ring on her finger she has no idea where it came from. "What year is it?" she looked back up to the doctor."

"It's 2016." the doctor says, and Katie's eyes go wide as she turns away from him and once again looks to her father. "Katherine-"

"Four years have passed?" she asked and Jacob let out a sigh and she shakes her head before turning back to the doctor.

"Tell me, what do you remember about your life." the doctor asks. Katie's eyes drifted because she couldn't get it out of her head that there's four years of her life that she just doesn't remember. "Katherine-" she shakes her head before standing from the bed, this time not feeling the soreness at all as she walks over to stand near the window. " I know this is all lot to take in, so I don't want to rush in to this. We can take our time." the doctor glanced over to Jacob and nodded his head toward the door.

"Sweet heart, I'm going to just be outside." he began following after the doctor.

"Do not lock that door." Katie says and Jacob stops and turns to her. "I've spent an awful lot of time in rooms with locked doors, and I would absolutely appreciate if you didn't lock that one."

"Of course." Jacob says before turning and heading out to the hall. "I'm going to need this entire floor cleared." Jacob ordered as they took a few steps away from the door. He glanced up to the walls noticing the ARGUS emblem and shook his head. He turned as Martin headed down the hall over to them. "I need everything that screams ARGUS covered, do you understand?"

"Of course, but sir-" Martin starts but Jacob simply holds up a hand before turning to the doctor.

"What's going on Phillips? Why can't she remember anything?

"Given what I know, no sign of cranial damage and all of her head scans coming back clean, I believe this is dissociative amnesia." he glanced over to Martin who too waited for the man to continue. "It results from the effects of severe stress or psychological trauma on the brain." Martin glanced over to Jacob who turned away now starting to understand the cause of all of this. "Sir, I don't know much about the injuries your daughter was brought in with. Physically there was only a stab wound, but if there is something else-"

"How do we go about treating this?" Jacob asked shutting the man's line of questioning down. Doctor Philips knew enough about Jacob to understand and just move on.

"There isn't an all out cure for this. There's just a wide range of treatment options, but with those options we have to take something into consideration. Something happened to her, something so traumatic that she has blocked it out of her memory completely. Before we start any treatment we should make sure she is psychologically safe to reconnect with these memories. Because if she's not, we could be opening a door she's not ready to open and that could possibly cause her even worse psychological distress." Jacob let out a heavy sigh as he slid a hand over his face hoping to calm his nerves but that was impossible at the moment. "Right now you're her anchor. The only thing she really remembers so I think you should talk to her, see how she feels about all of this. Try to get a sense of how she wants to proceed with this. I will come by a little later to talk to her and see if we can come up with a plan." The doctor turned to leave.

"Doctor Philips-" it was Martin who spoke, and the doctor stopped and turned to him. "Her husband, do you think we should call him, have him come see her, talk to her."

"Well I would definitely inform him that his wife is no longer in a coma. I've met Mr. Queen a few times so I can say with confidence that he will be happy with the news. On whether he should see her, that's a whole different matter all together."

"How so?"

"Well since we don't know what this traumatic event was that caused her to block out her memories, we're not sure if anyone she knows is tied to them."

"You're saying that seeing Oliver could trigger something inside of her and those bad things you mentioned could happen if she's not ready to remember them." Jacob says glancing over to Martin. "You know Oliver, you think we can call him, tell him that she's awake and then tell him he can't see her."

"I think given what we were just told, explaining that to him, I think he would see the bigger picture and think about his wife before himself." Martin says and Jacob simply shook his head.

"Thanks Philips." Jacob says dismissing the doctor who simply nodded before turning and walking away. "I should get back in there." Jacob headed back to his daughter's room.

"You don't want to call him?" Martin asked and Jacob stopped and turned back to him. "You do know where that decision could lead."

"Right now the only thing I care about is the safety of my daughter. And that thing that was inside of her-" Jacob closed the distance between the man. "The things it made her do is causing my baby to block out the last three and a half years of her life. I don't know what will happen if she remembers those things and if Oliver-"

"Oliver had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to her. If anyone is a trigger it's you. Do you know what her life was like three and a half years ago. three and a half years ago she didn't know who you were and she didn't know what you did." Martin noticed that Jacob turned away at those words. "And you're glad about that, aren't you?" Jacob turned a glare to the man before turning and stalking back over to his daughter's room.

Martin let out a deep sigh as the moral dilemma he now faced tugged on the edges of his conscience. The man shook his head before slipping out his cell phone and dialing a number.

"Yeah, medical floor two needs to be completely cleared." he glance around the hall. "And we're going to need pictures." the statement confused the agent on the phone and Martin thew up his hands in frustration. "I don't care, just pictures!"

Sometimes Oliver felt as if one day his lips would just fall off his face with the amount of smiling his new job as mayor entailed. He was always shaking someones hand while simultaneously smiling giving the illusion that he actually knew what he was doing. No one had quite caught on that he was usually playing the role of mayor by ear. It was usually Thea who made sure he at least was saying the right things at the right times. At the moment, Oliver had a moment of peace to himself as he stood looking up to a wall of monitors all showing different job openings from various businesses around the city. He smiled because he could imagine his wife standing here, imagine the pride and happiness she would feel as she stood here to see yet another stem of the dream her and Ray created.

"It's unbelievable, isn't it?" a voice spoke from beside Oliver, pulling him from his thoughts of his wife. He turned, pulling on that smile to see the familiar face of one Annabelle Grey, the current CEO of Robins Incorporated. Oliver simply gave a nod before glancing behind him in search of his sister who he knows is somewhere watching. Thea is always somewhere watching whenever the tall, blonde haired woman beside him appears. He just hopes Thea doesn't come through on the promise she made earlier. "The New Beginning Initiative is one of Star City's shining accomplishments, and to be apart of it is just-" the woman shook her head unable to think of the words. "We actually were talking about another idea for NBI I would love to pick your brain about." the woman said and Oliver turned to see the bright smile on her face as she stared at him. "Having the Mayor's inclusion in this really does show this city just how invested you are in it's citizens and helping them improve their lives."

"Ms. Grey, Mayor Queen, can we get a picture?" a voice spoke from behind them, and the pair turned to see a few photographers already aiming their cameras.

"Of course!" Annabelle said, before moving in closer to Oliver, their arm's touching as she smiles to the cameras. Oliver politely smiled at the camera while also attempting to subtly place a bit of distance between him and the woman. When he first met the woman, he thought she was nice, friendly even, but after many conversations with his sister, there were always moments of realization that struck him whenever the woman was around. Moments like this one, where she moved herself into his personal space. Now Oliver still doesn't think the woman is doing it out of some nefarious reasoning as Thea believes, but he also knows that certain actions just shouldn't happen. Suddenly the woman clasped her hand with his and if possible, moved in even closer to him, and the smile on Oliver's face dropped and it was this point that Oliver finally decided to say something, but alas his sister was there to save the day.

"Oliver, there's some people I'd like you to meet." Thea says slipping passed the photographers, and reaching over to pull her brother's hand, the one Annabelle now was forced to release. Thea didn't wait for any words as she pulled her brother with her. "You can't tell me that wasn't suspect?" Thea whispered over to her brother.

"I can definitely see a line being crossed." Oliver said as he glanced over to the blonde who met his eyes with a smile. 'Maybe I've given her the wrong idea."

"Well I can give her the right idea about my married brother." Thea says, and Oliver turns back to her. "You told them all that Katie was alive, and yet you have women like her who still try to whore themselves out." Oliver looked down to his sister who turned meeting his eyes. "What?"

"Tell me how you really feel Thea." Oliver says as more cameras appeared in front of them, and so he pulled on another tight smile as he brought an arm around his sister as the cameras began flashing.

"She thinks because Twinkie is out of sight, that she's also out of mind." Thea muttered through her smile. "I'm here to remind her how wrong she is." once the photographers were done, the turned and sifted out through the crowd and Oliver turned back to his sister. "No one puts the moves on my sister's husband."

What Katie knew was that it was no longer 2012. Her father was no longer in a coma, She was married and for some reason she couldn't remember the last three and a half years of her life. Her eyes stared intently out of the window where she looked out to scene of a tall wire fence and on the other side, nothing but trees. Another question reared it's head and so she turned back to her father.

"Where are we right now?" Jacob didn't answer right away and Katie quirked a brow, "Dad-"

"Hospital." Jacob said as he walked over to stand beside her. Katie noticed the way his Adams apple bobbed nervously and she looked up to meet his eyes. "Sunshine, I spoke to your doctor, and he seems to believe that your memory loss isn't connected to a head injury." Katie turned away to look back out of the window.

"Dissociative amnesia." Katie says turning back to her father who simply nods. "I kind of find that impossible that I would block out just the last three and a half years of my life." she shakes her head. "There's so much more I wish I didn't remember right now." she meets her father's eyes and knows he's probably wondering what she means. She turns away and walks over to take a seat on the edge of her bed. "How much of my time before 2012 do you know about?" Jacob walked over an took a seat in the chair in front of her and she saw that look in his eyes and so she dropped her head. "So all of it."

"Sweetheart-"

"What have you done so far?" she asked looking back to the man. "I mean you hired lawyers right, talked to the police." Jacob didn't say anything, and Katie once again noticed that bob of his Adams apple, and she frowned. "Dad?"

"The people who hurt will never hurt you again. I can promise that." Jacob said with a smile and Katie wanted to ask questions, but she didn't. She felt as if she wouldn't get the answers she wanted and so she would continue to simply pay attention to what she didn't see. She looked down to her hand, once again tugged to the realization that the ring on her finger meant she was somebody's wife. It was still too impossible to believe. That after everything she's been through, everything she's seen that she could find herself as someone's wife. She doesn't understand it, because she remembers stepping off of that plane in Starling and once lesson from the demon was still etched into her brain. Never trust anyone.

So how does someone with that train of thought find themselves married. She looked back up to her father and lifted her hand and his eyes went to the ring. "We should probably talk about this, huh?"

"We can, but I think we should be very careful about how much I share. I just don't want-" he shook his head because he still wasn't sure what remembering what she's done will do to her and he doesn't want to risk anything. "We don't know what caused this, so I don't want to move too far, too quickly until I know it's safe to do so."

"That only matters if you think he's connected to the traumatic event I'm blocking out." Katie replied and she watched her father turn away. "Is that what you think?" Jacob turned back to her and he didn't want to lie. Despite what was happening he did feel as if this was the second chance he could have with his daughter. He didn't want to tip the scale at all.

"No." Jacob answered honestly. "I don't. He's a good man and he loves you." Katie thought he would say more, but instead his phone buzzed in his pocket and so he pulled it out. "Um, I have to take this-" he looked back up to his daughter with a smile. "I will see about getting you some food. I can imagine you're probably hungry." he stood to his feet.

"Maybe some clothes." Katie requested and he turned to her. "I'd like to shower and change." the man gave a nod.

"I will get you some clothes and food. I shouldn't be gone long." Jacob placed a kiss to the top of his daughter's head, and the fact that she didn't pull away just warmed his heart. He smiled before turning and heading out of the room. Katie sat there for a moment, the silence of the room swallowing her up. She closed her eyes, hoping something would strike her, a memory of something would prove to her that this was real. Her eyes lift to the bathroom, and so she stood and walked inside, her eyes finally happening upon her reflection and she gasped at what she saw.

Her hair was longer, and her skin seemed brighter. She leaned in to the mirror, her eyes really analyzing features that weren't there before. She slid her hands along her cheeks, really able to see the age of three and a half years. It was subtle, but there was something different about her. She slid her hands down, and and stopped above her stomach. She lifted the hospital gown a bit and frowned. Even her body seemed different. There was more weight in her hips and thighs. Not a lot, she was still fit, but there seemed to be a bit more curves she doesn't remember having. She lifted her eyes back to the mirror as she dropped her gown.

"Who are you?" she muttered.

Oliver's days were usually filled with boring meetings, hand shaking, forced smiles while he tried his best to bring a light back to this city. Oliver prided himself in doing everything he could to stand up for this city and protecting them in anyway he could. But there's not a moment as the mayor that compares to the moment at the end of the day when Oliver walks into the ARGUS daycare classroom and he finally gets to see his daughter. He has made it a point to be the one to drop her off and pick her up. It's always in his schedule, and everyone who works for him is aware that nothing else should be scheduled because he's made it perfectly clear what he will choose.

Oliver's never quite sure how he will find his daughter when he walks into the room honestly. Sometimes she's sleeping, sometimes she's playing with toys, or sometimes he walks in to see the staff looking completely freaked out. Oliver quickly rushes inside, and he turns to one of her teachers.

"Mrs. Finch?" she turns to him and just holds up her hands. "Is she-"

"Found her!" a voice called and they all turned to see another teacher walking over with a giggling Robyn in his arms. "Your daughter is a quick one." he says says before handing the baby to Oliver. The moment she's in his arms, the girl excitedly bounces.

"Dah dah, dah dah, dah." she repeats over and over again, and Oliver laughs as he places a few kisses to the side of her head. He looks back over to the teacher.

"I'm sorry, ever since she started crawling she's just-"

"Oliver, it's alright. She's at the age where she's curious about everything. We're just going to have to be extra diligent, aren't we Mr. Clay?"

"Yes, ma'am." the young man replied before turning back to Oliver, and then down to the baby. "See you tomorrow, baby Flash." the young man chuckled not noticing the annoyed look on Oliver's face at the nickname.

"Why don't we get Robyn's things." Mrs. Finch said and Oliver simply nodded.

When Oliver walked though the doors of his house, Robyn was out like a light, her head on his shoulder as she lightly snores. Oliver quietly carries her up the stairs and into her room before carefully pulling off her jacket and lying her in her crib. He reached down and pulled off her shoes as well before leaning down and placing a kiss to the top her head. He flicked off the light before quietly leaving the room and closing the door behind him. Oliver heard the sound of the front door opening and closing, and glanced down to his watch figuring that at this time it was probably Ari, and so he headed downstairs.

As always when she came home from school, Oliver found the girl's head inside the refrigerator looking for a snack.

"How was school?" Oliver asked and Ari glanced over to him and shrugged.

"Still has walls and floors." she replies before grabbing some cold cuts, and cheese. She sat them on the counter before going to grab some bread.

"Ari, about this morning-"

"You mean you totally freaking out and making me get out of the car?" Ari asked looking over to the man.

"To be fair, you took your eyes off the road and nearly hit someone."

"Because you distracted me!" she replied as she went about making her sandwich.

"I know, and I'm sorry about that. I'm just trying to get use to the idea of you driving."

"Why, it's not that big of a deal." she replies looking over to him.

"It is, trust me. The day I got my license, as promised my dad bought me a new car. The moment I got behind the wheel of that car, I was rarely home." Oliver sighed as he shook his head. "My mom would tell me that I shouldn't go out all the time, that I should stay home sometimes, and I just brushed her off, but now I get it." Oliver looked over to Ari and in the past couple of months he really has seen her change, and grow up and it feels like it's happening too quickly. He knows she isn't his daughter, that no blood is shared between the two of them, but to Oliver she is one of his girls. One of the few people placed on this earth that he would do anything to protect. "I just don't want you to grow up too fast." Ari looked at him for a moment before letting out an exaggerated sigh before walking around the counter to the kitchen table and pulling out a chair and gesturing for him to sit. Oliver looked over to the chair and chuckled before walking over and sitting down in front of the teen.

"Oliver, do you want to know why I want to learn how to drive?" she asked and Oliver looked at her for a moment.

"I assumed so you can get away whenever you wanted?"

"Well honestly I could get away whenever I wanted now-" Oliver quirked a brow and Ari shook her head. "But no, that's not why. I wanted to learn how to drive because I wanted you to teach me you big oaf." she grabbed the chair beside him and took a seat and he turned to her. "You being the Mayor is cool, and you're doing a lot of good things for the city, and I really am proud that you're my guardian." she turns away and lets out a sigh before turning back to him. "But during the day, you're the Mayor, and at night you're the Green Arrow, so your schedule doesn't really allow for the normal stuff." the girl shrugged, and Oliver sighed suddenly feeling guilty.

"Ari, I need you to know that being the Mayor, and being the Green Arrow doesn't come before this." he says looking around the kitchen. He smiled at a thought. "This is our home. Here there are no heroes or villains." he looks back to Ari. "Here I am your-" Oliver suddenly felt a pang of emotion in his chest. "I'm your guardian. I'm Robyn's dad, and whenever you need me to be just those things, I will. Every time I will." Ari gave the man a nod. "And you're right, my schedule has been crazy lately. I promise to do something about that and make more time to just be here with you and Robyn." A chirping noise made Ari quickly stand to her feet and rush over to her backpack. She pulled out her lap top and flipped it open before her fingers began rapidly typing. "What's going on?" Oliver stood to his feet and walked over, his eyes glancing to the screen and he let out a frustrated sigh. "Ari-"

"Before you start, let me at least tell you what I've found." Ari says before typing a few keys before turning the lap top toward Oliver. "Lonnie Machin, look familiar?" she glanced over to Oliver who stared down to the man's face on the screen. He hoped Machin had died in the explosion at Tevat Noah, but he knew there was always a chance he'd show up again some day. "Well he popped up in one of Felicity's facial recon searches she has for all your bad guys who got away." Ari turned the laptop back and once again began typing. "Want to know where he popped up?" she turned back to Oliver who had absolutely not a trace of amusement in his features. "Uh, some underground club where bad guys hang out. From what I could find-" Oliver reached forward, and slammed the laptop shut.

"I'm taking this, and you're not getting it back until you finally listen." Oliver moved around the girl and headed upstairs.

"Aren't you the least bit curious about what I found?"

"Not really," Oliver replies and Ari let out a huff. "I've told you countless times that you won't be involved with this."

"Oliver you're all alone-"

"I'm not all alone. I have Curtis." Ari scoffed as she followed Oliver into his room. "Ari, look I know you want to help, but it's too dangerous."

"I've been kidnapped by a guy who could move things with his mind, and I made it out alive." Ari said and Oliver turned to her.

"No you made it out, and ended up in the hospital. I won't let that happen again, so that means that you will stay away from all things Green Arrow."

"Do you know how impossible that is given you're actually the Green Arrow." Ari says watching as the man pulls off his tie. "Oliver you will save us all a lot of time if you just stop fighting this." Oliver turned to her and she smiled. "I can be useful, totally more useful than Curtis."

"I'm sorry Ari, but I'm definitely not drafting a high school kid to the team." he replies and Ari frowns with a shake of her head before turning and stalking out of the room. Oliver listened as she slammed her door and he waited for a moment to see if the sound would wake his daughter. He let out a sigh of relief in realizing it hadn't, before going about getting changed.

When Oliver was changed he headed back downstairs where he found Thea placing bags of food on the counter.

"I brought chinese." Thea said with a smile as she pulled off her jacket, but noticed her brother was wearing his. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah, something has come up, and I need to head out." Oliver says and Thea looks over to the laptop in his hand.

"Isn't that Ari's?"

"Yeah, she's not getting this back for a while." Oliver said with a shake of his head. "I'll tell you about it later. Robyn is sleeping, but you should get her up in a bit for her bath and pajamas, and just so she doesn't wake up in the middle of the night."

"This isn't my first rodeo Ollie. Super Aunt, remember?" Oliver laughed.

"Right, I will call if I'm late. I'll see you later." Oliver said before turning and heading out.

Katie's eyes snapped open, and for a moment she was confused because she didn't instantly recognize the room she was in. Soon the memories of the day flood back to her and so she sighed and sat up. A nurse had delivered her some clothes and toiletries earlier. After her shower Katie fell back into bed and must've dozed off. Now the room was dark, and when she walked over to window she realized the night sky hung above. Her eyes glanced over to a tray of food that must've been delivered while she was sleeping. She walked over picking up the lid to see a a turkey sandwich, and a bowl of soup. She dropped the lid back onto the plate, honestly not really having an appetite for anything right now. Her eyes drifted back to the door to her room, and so she decided to see what was on the other side. When she walked over, Katie grabbed the doorknob, twisting it, relieved that it actually opened. Katie pulled open the door carefully, her eyes looking out into the hall, frowning a bit when she didn't see anyone. She stepped further into the hall, stuffing her hands in to the pockets of the hoodie she was wearing. She let her eyes glance down both ends of the hall, finding the scene like something plucked from a horror movie. Her eyes looked over to the walls, noticing the strange pictures of different breeds of dogs, and cats. She shook her head as she continued down the hall way. She stopped at a nurses station, but there was no one in sight.

"What the hell?" She muttered once again looking around hoping someone would appear and make this moment less creepy. She continued, eyes scanning for some form of life, or even a way outside. She had the need for fresh air, and to at least prove to herself that she really was home and could move about as she wished. Up ahead was an elevator, and so she quickened her steps. She once again glance around almost expecting someone to jump out at her, but no one did, and so she reached forward pressing the button. It didn't take long before the doors opened and without a second thought, she stepped inside.

Curtis Holt could usually navigate through anything with a motherboard. He could count on one hand the number of systems that have stumped him and today another would be added to the list.

"Tell me have something Curtis." came the somewhat annoyed voice of Oliver Queen who was currently speeding along the back streets of Star City as the Green Arrow. Just before Oliver left, he handed Curtis Ari's laptop, telling him there was information on Lonnie Machin. What he knew was that Machin had been to an underground club he was familiar with which is why Oliver was headed there now. What he needed to know was if Machin had been anywhere else that could point to what he was planning.

"I'm still working on it, but your cousin's system is locked down tight for someone whose just in high school." Curtis says with a shake of his head after once again being forced out of the mainframe by another firewall. "Almost makes me wonder what she's hiding in this thing."

"All I care about is Lonnie Machin and where he's been. If he's back in Star City, then he's definitely planning something and I want to know what."

"And asking Ari to just tell you-"

"Not happening. She doesn't get involved with any of this. That's why you're here Curtis." there was a brief pause and Curtis stopped typing before turning to the monitor to his left. Oliver had reached the club. "She's just a kid Curtis, I'm sure you can figure it out." and with that the transmission ended and Curtis let out a heavy sigh before turning back to the laptop. He once again tried another algorithm to gain access to the files, but he was once again blocked.

"Pathetic," Curtis jumped at the sudden voice, before turning to see Ari standing behind him pulling off her hoodie that was soaked from the rain.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" Curtis asked turning to the girl fully. "I'm like completely sure you're not supposed to be here."

"I know. Oliver doesn't want me here because he thinks he's keeping me safe, but he's too blind to see that I can help him. " Ari walked over grabbing her laptop and plopping into the seat across from Curtis. He looked over her shoulder as she typed a few keys finally revealing the files. "Now if Oliver had let me finish I would've told him that I was able to hack into the clubs' surveillance footage and I was able to see who Machin was meeting."

"Ok, I got to ask, why is your laptop encrypted up the whazoo?" Curtis asked. "If I didn't know any better I'd think-" he paused, and Ari turned to him. "Felicity is helping you isn't she? That's the only way you'd have such a sophisticated and impeccably coded hard drive." the girl turned away back to her laptop. "Has to be Felicity."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ari said before typing a few more keys. "I'm sending you a picture of the guy Machin was meeting, and according to his priors it doesn't look good." Curtis frowned before walking over to take his seat and pulling open the file Ari had sent. "Andre Mendoza, seems to have a wrap sheet as long as your arm. And they all seem to be centered around-"

"Bombs." Curtis says before glancing over to Ari. "Machin is building a bomb."

"If he hasn't already." Ari replies before standing to her feet and walking over to the monitor in front of Curtis. "We need to find find out what he has and where he's going to plant it and I think our friend Mr. Mendoza will be a good start." she looked over to Curtis. "You need to tell Oliver this, and I will start searching for any heat signatures around town, or anywhere consuming large amounts of energy, then-"

"No," Curtis says, and Ari looks over to him in confusion. "I'm positive that you're dead when Oliver walks in here, and I'm also positive that I will be dead if I don't stop this right now."

"You can't be serious. I just gave you your lead, I can help you-"

"And I really don't doubt that, but Oliver doesn't want you here Ari. I'm not even completely sure you understand what this place is and what you're trying to do."

"I'm trying to help. Just like you, like Oliver and like-" Ari turned, her eyes catching sight of the Guardian's suit, her mind flashed back to that moment her cousin hidden behind that mask found her and saved her from Damien Darhk. "Like my cousin." she turned back to Curtis and shook her head. "I know what this is. I'm not a kid."

"Well legally-" the girl scoffed turning about to grab her laptop when she stopped at the ding of the elevator opening and the girl froze at the sight of Oliver who she thought would be gone a little bit longer.

"For the record I was kicking her out." Curtis says raising his hands and backing away as Oliver stalked toward the teenager. "And I'm going to go over here." he turned away, making himself scarce. The look in Oliver's eyes caused a chill to run down Ari's spine. He was still wearing his gear, with the hood and the mask and the sight of the Green Arrow glaring at her right now was really starting to freak her out.

"Ok, so I know what you're going to say and-"

"You snuck out of the house, again."

"And I know-"

"No, Ari, I'm going to talk now and you're going to listen, and I mean really listen." Oliver said before pulling back his hood and slipping the mask from his eyes. "I am your parent. It is my job to keep you safe and happy, and it is my decision that you have absolutely part in anything that happens here."

"But Oliver-"

"For me to do this, for me go out there and protect this city, I have to know you're home, and that you're safe, and that you're happy. Right now you're making that really hard for me Ari." he took a step forward. "I understand your desire to help, but I need you to understand why I can't let that happen. And I can't have you sneaking around and going behind my back and doing things like this. Dangerous things like sneaking out of your window and taking the bus here by yourself." he shook his head. "I don't even want to know how you snuck around the security we have at the house, and I will definitely be having that conversation when we get home." he looked back down to the girl. "Ari for me to do this I need to know where you are at all times. If I have to hang up this hood just to know exactly where you are, I will." the girl frowned and shook her head.

"You can't do that, you-"

"And yet I will, if that's what it takes for me to have a peace of mind for my family." Oliver said and Ari turned away from him and he could see that she was upset. "Ari-"

"Fine," she turned back to face him and gave him a nod. "I just want you to know that I would've been the best damn Overwatch 2.0 you ever had." she turned grabbing her hoodie and pulling it back on before grabbing her backpack off the floor. "I'll wait for you by the elevator." And with that she stalked away from and Oliver let out a heavy sigh before walking over to Curtis.

"Kids, right?" Curtis said and the annoyed look on Oliver's face.

"Tell me you have something Curtis."

"I have something, well-" Curtis turned to the man. "Ari found something," he noticed the annoyed look on Oliver's face as he lifted his head and glanced over to the girl waiting by the elevator. "She was able to hack into the surveillance video from the club and was able to see who Machin was meeting." Oliver looked back down to the phone to the snap shot of the video. The screen expanded on the face of the man Machin was talking to before information appeared below it. "He's the bad guy other bad guys turn to when they want to blow things up."

"Machin is building a bomb?" Oliver asked and Curtis turned and just shrugged.

"That I don't know, but I can try a couple of searches just to see if I can pick up anything. But for now I think our friend, Andre might know where we should start."

"Get me an address. I'm going to change and take Ari back home. Call me when you have something." Oliver said before turning to walk away, but he stopped and looked back over to Curtis. "And uh, thanks for your help." Oliver felt the need to show his appreciation to the man, he felt it was something he lacked with the old team and so he thought he would try things differently now.

"Um...you're welcome." Curtis replied awkwardly not expecting the words. Oliver simply nodded before turning and going off to get changed.

The car ride home was brutally silent. Ari kept her eyes out the window, looking at the passing houses still upset that Oliver wasn't even considering letting her help.

"So, uh, how's school?" Oliver asked breaking the silence, and Ari turned to him as if he'd grown a second head. She couldn't believe he was really trying to pretend as if she wasn't upset with him right now and would try to fill their silence with small talk. She simply scoffed before turning away to look back out the window. Oliver glanced over to her and sighed before turning back to the road. Raising a teenager was one of the biggest challenges he thinks he's ever had to face. "Ari, I get you're upset, but-"

"I don't think you do get it." Ari said with a shake of her head refusing to look at him. "I'm the kid of a man who laundered millions of dollars from his family's company before trying to kill a man. I'm the kid of a woman who held a restaurant filled with people hostage and threatened to kill them one by one if the police didn't arrest my cousin." She turned to the man and shrugged. "This was my opportunity to prove that those people, those people who I love dearly, didn't-" she shook her head. "they didn't imprint their flaws on me. I could've been the Locke that actually did some good in this world." she turned to look back out the window just as Oliver pulled into the driveway. She made to get out of the car, but Oliver called her name.

"Ari, I'm not sure how much of my family you're familiar with, but I'm the kid of a man who conspired with other bad people to do harm to this city. And I'm the kid of the woman who stood by silently and watched a man plan the destruction of this city." Oliver looked over to the girl who still refused to look at him. "We don't have to make up for the sins of our parents."

"Says the guy who dawns a hood at night and fights crime." she deadpanned. "Look, whatever, I'll stay out of it." she turned and finally stepped out of the car, and Oliver just sat there letting out a sigh as he watched her go into the house. He closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the seat. Oliver found himself in moments like this where he felt as if he was failing as a parent. He wasn't sure how to fix this and it was one of the most frustrating things about being a parent.

There was a knock on his window, and he opened his eyes and looked up to see his sister who was looking at him in confusion. He turned off the car before finally stepping out.

"What are you still doing in the car?" Thea asked.

"I just needed a moment." Oliver replied, his eyes turning and scanning the area. Even in this moment he was still vigilant to the dangers that always seemed to creep around them. "Did you talk to Steve?"

"Oh, I have a very long profanity filled conversation with Steve." Thea said with a shake of her head. "Apparently Ari has memorized their rounds, so when Hank was leaving for the day, and the new guy Greg was taking over, she made a fake call to the police about a disturbance happening across the street."

"And when the police appeared-"

"Greg, and Steve, and I think there's another new guy, but they all went to check out what was happening and that's when Ari climbed out of her window." Thea glanced over to her brother. "She even manged to avoid being detected by the security cameras."

"She's probably been planning this for a while. There's no telling how often she's been sneaking out." Oliver let out another sigh as he slid a hand over his face. "I seriously don't know how to handle this situation."

"Ollie, she's a teenager. Teenagers sneak out sometimes. I mean when I was her age I-" Oliver glanced over to his sister. "Well let's just hope she isn't going to the places I was going. Look Ari is a smart kid, I'm sure where ever she goes she's being safe and making smart decisions."

"I don't even want to think about what will happen when she gets her license." Oliver groaned as he turned back to look at the house and he had one thought. "I have to go." Thea turned back to the man with a furrowed brow. "I need see Twinkie."

"Now? It's kind of late."

"Yeah, but it's been a long day, and I've been too busy to visit which I promised myself would never happen."

"I think she would understand."

"I know she would." Oliver said. "She'd wouldn't make me feel guilty about living our lives, but I would, and right now I just need to see her face."

"What about Ari?"

"I will try to think up a punishment that might actually change her behavior." Oliver said before turning back to get into his car.

"Hey Ollie-" Oliver stopped and turned back to his sister. "You're...you're ok, aren't you?" Oliver didn't answer the question right away because the answer wasn't instantaneous. He looked at his sister for moment and just shrugged.

"I miss her." he replied honestly, and Thea took a step forward placing a hand on his arm. "Like I really miss her, and it's-" he shook his head because he knew if he really dug too deep into these emotions he's successfully bottled up, then he probably wouldn't be able to stand up right now. He turned back to his sister. "I just need to see my wife." and with that the man turned and got back into his car and drove off.

When the elevator doors opened, for the first time, Katie saw life. People besides her father and her doctor. She didn't move for a moment as she stood peering out of the open elevator watching the people in suits moving about totally unaware of her presence. The first thing she noticed was the fact that this didn't look like a hospital. The walls were pale, gray, and she noticed a few of the men walking by had guns holstered at their hip. Her eyes continued to dance over the floor until she caught sight of something she didn't expect. And so she padded her socked feet off of the elevator and in those few steps, the people around her stopped and finally noticed her. She was no longer paying attention to the people around her. Only the emblem painted on the wall in front of her, and the sight made her question so many things. It made her suspicious, and anxious.

"Katie?" a voice spoke from behind Katie, but she didn't turn around. She recognized the voice instantly, and she swallowed the nerves in her throat as her eyes eyes shifted slightly, instinctively looking for something she could use as a weapon. She stuffed her hands in her pockets before slowly turning around to the face of someone she thought she'd never see again. "Hi," the woman smiled a honest smile, and Katie stared back still piecing together the bits of truth that was coming to her. "I'm so glad to see you awake, and up and walking, and-" Lyla took a step, and in a move no one expected, Katie grabbed the woman's arm, twisting it behind her back before slamming her face against the wall. In the following moment, she heard the sound gun safetys being switched off, and when she turned she was greeted with the sight of gun barrels all aimed at her. "Drop your weapons!" Lyla ordered, straining to pull herself free. "That is an order!" the suited men and women seemed hesitant, but they lowered their guns. "Katie, you're safe here!"

"Here being ARGUS?" she asked and Lyla was confused by the question. "This is ARGUS right? You being an agent of ARGUS, that would make sense." Katie tightened her grip on Lyla's arm. "Where is she? Where's that bitch Amanda Waller?!"

"Waller isn't here!" Katie turned at the voice, and her eyes went wide as she saw her father walking toward her. "Sunshine—" Katie's eyes looked to the man standing beside her father who looked oddly familiar. She finally released Lyla's arm, and turned to her father fully as he began slowly moving in closer to her. "I know you're probably confused right now."

"I'm totally confused right now." Katie says glancing from her father to Lyla, not understanding what was happening. "ARGUS kidnapped me," she turned back to her father. "They hurt me, and you-" she slid a hand across her forehead because there was a sudden twitch of pain. She felt her heart begin to race, and her breaths start to quicken. "You-" she glanced over to Lyla once again and just shook her head as her hands began to shake. She looked back to her father still trying to draw a connection.

"Look at me sweetie." Jacob said and Katie turned back to face him, but it was strange. Her vision began to blur a bit, and she swayed and Jacob took another step toward her but she held up a hand to stop.

"Don't you come near me!" she snapped angrily, and Jacob stopped abruptly, caught by the familiar look in her eyes. That look he thought he could prevent, and yet it was just inevitable. "The truth, tell me the truth."

"Sweetheart-"

"The truth!" she yelled taking in a shaky breath. Jacob looked at his daughter and decided in that moment that he was going to do as she asked. "Is this ARGUS?"

"Yes." he replied honestly. "And I am an ARGUS agent." he replies and her eyes go wide because she doesn't understand what's happening. She glanced over to Lyla who was still silently staring at her with that annoying look of concern.

"You work for the people who kidnapped me?" Katie asked turning back to her father. "The people who tortured me and forced me to do unspeakable things. They broke me, or at least they were one of many." she waited for her father to say something and yet she noticed the sadness and guilt in his eyes and she just dropped her head. "You let them do that to me?" she looked up to her father and the look in her eyes was like a knife to the gut. "Speak!"

"Katie why don't we get you back down to your room?" Lyla suggested and Katie turned to the woman and just shook her head. "This is all a bit much, and-" Lyla took a step forward, the move no one expected, Katie pulled a gun from the pocket of her hoodie. Lyla's eyes looked down to her holster only now realizing it was empty. Katie aimed the gun at her father, and he didn't bat an eye. The appearance of a gun caused the surrounding agents to lift their own weapons and aim them at the woman. "I said lower your weapons!"

"Ma'am, agency protocol-" one of the agents began, but didn't even finish.

"Fuck protocol! I gave you an order. Everyone lower your weapons, and I want this floor cleared right now!" the tone in her voice told her agents that they should do nothing but comply. And so they holstered their weapons and hesitantly began clearing from the floor leaving only Katie, Lyla, Jacob and Martin in the intense moment. "Katie, you're in no danger. I promise you, you're safe." Katie glanced over to the woman and just shook her head.

"Safe?" she turned back to her father. "They put me in some underground bunker with a crazy person who put weapons in my hand and forced me to fight, and if I refused-" she shook her head. "Well if I refused he made damn sure I'd comply in the end." she looked at her father and just began laughing. "I just can't believe this. I just got on a plane home, thinking I finally escaped the hell they put me in and now I'm standing right here in front of my father who just told me that he works for the people who hurt me."she slid a hand across her forehead because that twitching was getting worse, and she could feel the disorientation settling in. "I thought I was escaping hell, but I just walked into a even worse one." she eyed her father who no longer had excuses for her, no longer had justifications for his actions that at this point he knows were wrong. "Am I prisoner?"

"Absolutely not." Lyla said. "You're my friend." Katie looked over to the woman who gave her a smile. "You can't remember, but you are my friend. You were my maid of honor at my wedding." Katie looked back to the woman in confusion because nothing she said was making any sense. Friends? Maid of honor? That's impossible...unthinkable. Katie didn't spend years being shredded to pieces to come back to Starling to be someone's maid of honor, especially not for the woman who stood by and did nothing while she was held against her will.

"How do I get out of here?" Katie asked looking around not caring who answered the question. "How the hell do I get out of this place?"

"And go where?" Jacob asked and she turned back to the man. "Katherine, in your state-"

"In my state?! I'm holding a gun that I can successfully use to shoot you right in your head before you could say another word. Do not placate me! Do not try to talk in calm and soothing tones, because there is absolutely no way in hell I'm staying another night in this place. I am going to get out of here, and I am going to get as far away as possible." she waited for someone to speak, and when no one did, her eyes glanced around the hall and that's when she noticed a sprinkler overhead, and without thinking she fired off a couple of shots activating the sprinkler system, before shooting into the lights above them bringing the hall into darkness. Soon the security system activated, and an alarm blared, and by the time the back up lights powered on, Lyla, Jacob and Martin stood staring at one another as water falls on them, making the realization that Katie had ran off. Lyla and Martin turned to Jacob who just continued to stare to the spot his daughter was just standing.

"Sir-" Martin took a step forward, and Jacob suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot through his chest. He reached up a hand, placing it above his heart as a pained groan escaped his lips and the feeling in his legs just gave out. "Sir!" Martin reached forward to try to stop his fall, but both men ended up collapsing to the floor. Lyla rushed over, dropping to her knees beside them. "He's having a heart attack, you have to get help now!" Lyla jumped to her feet before rushing off. "You're alright Jacob, just keep breathing."

In all the months that Oliver had visited this facility, he never felt quite comfortable. Sure he knows ARGUS isn't the same agency that turned his life upside down so many years ago, but it was just something about this place he just didn't trust. He wanted to move his wife so many times to another hospital, and yet Jacob was always able to convince him that Katie staying here was safest place for her, and Oliver couldn't disagree. This place was definitely hard to break into, and even if someone did get inside, there were hundreds of armed agents to stand between them and his wife which always gave Oliver a bit of peace of mind. Today when Oliver stepped inside and went about the normal checking in process, he was stopped.

"Sir, the director would like to see you." the entry guard said upon Oliver's arrival. "Could you wait here?" Oliver looked to the man in confusion, but gave a nod. Soon Lyla appeared from off the elevator, and he noticed her hair and clothes looked wet. He walked over to her.

"What happened?" Oliver asked, and Lyla opened her mouth and yet no words came out. "Lyla?"

"Oliver follow me."

Soon Oliver stood at the foot of Jacob's hospital bed staring to the man who sat up staring right back to him, the only sound from the cardiac monitor connected to the patches along his chest. Just moments earlier they'd finally come clean to Oliver about the past two days, and now they were just waiting for him to respond.

Oliver's brain was trying to compute and come to grips with the words just told to him, and it was hard, because it didn't seem real.

"So my wife woke up from her coma, yesterday." Oliver said the words out loud hoping to solidify them and make them seem real. He'd hoped and prayed for the moment everyday since Katie was brought in, but he always imagined that the day it happened he would be here. He'd be the first person she'd see so she knows that he was there, and that she wasn't alone. Now he can't have that moment. "My wife woke up from her coma, and you didn't call me." he held Jacob's gaze. He felt he and his father in law over the past couple of months had grown closer. They shared a common interest and that was Katie and Oliver thought that Jacob was turning out to be that man he knew when he was a little boy. Oliver shook his head.

"Oliver, we thought-" Martin tried explaining, but at this point Oliver didn't care about excuses.

"My wife woke up from her coma, and-"

"She doesn't know you're her husband." Jacob said and Oliver stopped talking. "She doesn't remember anything from the past three and a half years. Her last memory was stepping off the airplane in Starling. She thought I was still in a coma, and I'm pretty sure she probably thinks you're dead." Oliver turned away from the man. "Her doctor seems to think she has dissociative amnesia." Oliver turned back. "She's hiding from the memory of something traumatic by forgetting it and most of the last couple years of her life."

"So our life together, being married, our kids-" Oliver said, and Jacob just shook his head. "She doesn't remember any of it? And you didn't tell her?!" Oliver took a step toward the man not caring about his heart attack or the fact that he was lying in a hospital bed. Martin stepped forward to push the man back. "She woke up and you didn't tell her who she was?!"

"Yeah I did!" Jacob said angrily as he sat up a bit in the bed. "Her doctor said that we should be careful with what we share with her because we don't know what can set her off. My baby girl can't remember the last three and a half years of her life because that thing inside of her-" Oliver turned away and slid a hand over his face. "She doesn't want to remember it, and we don't why or what will happen if she does. We have to be careful."

"No," Oliver said turning to the man. "You don't have to do anything. Not anymore. I will find my wife, and I will help her, and you will stay the hell away from her and my family." and with that Oliver turned storming out of the room. Lyla followed after him.

"Oliver-"

"Lyla, I just can't." he said not even looking back to her as he stalked toward the elevator. He reached forward, and pressed the button impatiently waiting for the doors to open as he pulled out his cell phone. Right now only one thing mattered, and that was finding his wife. And when he thought of who could help him, only one person came to mind. Oliver pulled out his cell phone and pressed a button before bringing the phone to his ear. The elevator doors opened and he quickly stepped inside, just as line picked up. "Felicity, it's me. I need your help." his eyes looked back up to Lyla who was still standing at the other end of the hall watching him. "Katie's awake, and she's missing." the elevator doors slide closed and the man inside was finally ready to venture out of his created illusion of being this guy who said he was ok when he really wasn't. It was time to step back into his reality, and that started with finding his wife.


	2. The Search

**Chapter 2**

**The Search**

_"Though lovers be lost, love shall not."_

Dylan Thomas

* * *

Sometimes Gotham City was just dreary. It lacked the colors or even the sparkle of Star City. Felicity noticed it every time she sat near the window of the Wayne mansion and stared out unable to not take on the gloomy feel the city seemed to invoke. She let out a heavy sigh just as Bruce entered the room.

"I don't like that sound," he commented as he walked over to her. She turned to him, a smile coming to her face as it always did when she saw him. "Everything alright?" he moved to stand across from her in front of the window, his eyes glancing out momentarily before turning back to the woman.

"I don't know. I just feel kind of blah today, and the whole lack of color this city has isn't helping any." Felicity replied looking down at the book she was reading.

"We could take another trip," Bruce said finally sitting beside her in the window seat. "Someplace bright and happy. Maybe Dubai?"

"We just came back from London last week, and before that we were in Japan," Felicity said dropping her book. "If this is going to be our home, we should at least stick around."

"You said home." Bruce said with a smile and Felicity shook her head. "You said home and not a museum." the woman chuckled. "Dare I say, you Ms. Smoak are starting to feel at home here."

"No, but I'm starting to feel at home with you," she replied sliding over into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "And what have I said about calling me, Ms. Smoak?"

"And what would you prefer I call you, huh?" he asked and she just shook her head. She inched closer to him, her eyes locked on his and she feels his rough palms as the slip underneath her sweater. She smiled as she took in his brown eyes, that tingling feeling in her stomach made it's expected appearance. 

"You know my name, Mr. Wayne." her lips were just a breath away from his and the smiled tugged on his lips just as he was about to close the distance, but in walked the pain in his ass.

"Ugh—" both stopped but didn't turn away from each other. "How is this place so huge, but I still get lucky enough to walk in just moments before you two are about to bang each other."

"And there's the crassness that can shatter any mood," Felicity says untangling herself from Bruce's grasp, and the annoyance laced in his features turned to one Richard Grayson. "Hi Dick," she turned to the man who simply waved.

"Hi blondie," he replied and Felicity turned a look of annoyance toward Bruce and he simply nods because he knows she hates the nickname and yet has told him not to say anything because she wanted things to go well for her here.

"Was there something you needed?" Bruce asked turning his agitation to Richard. "Because as you could see we were sort of in the middle of something and-"

"It's not happening Bruce." Felicity said grabbing her book.

"But it could." he said hopeful before turning back to Richard. "What do you want?"

"I think I may have gotten a lead on Dr. Quinzel." the young man replied. "After her escape from ARGUS, I've been able to track her to some of her and the Joker's old contacts."

"You guys don't really think she's going to try to bust him out of Arkham, do you?" Felicity asked.

"Well she's crazy enough to try." Dick replied turning back to Bruce. "I'm going to check this out and-"

"Just recognizance, observe, but don't act. Harley is bat shit crazy, but she's also clever, and I want to see what she's actually planning and whose helping her." Bruce said and Richard simply nodded.

"Well if it's going to be boring, I might bring a date." Richard said already pulling out his phone. "Hey, Troy, how would you like to join me on an exciting mission?"

"That woman is going to murder him." Felicity said with a shake of her head. "And I won't even blame her for it." she turned to Bruce who stood to his feet and began walking toward the doors that lead to the den and sliding them closed. "What are you doing?"

"Preventing anymore interruptions." Bruce said and Felicity laughed as he walked over to the other set of doors and slid them closed as well.

"I think you forgot to hang your tube sock." she said as Bruce began walking toward her. She tossed her book onto the couch as Bruce scooped her up into his arms, and a squeal escaped her lips followed by a laugh. Her arms twisted back around his neck as he held her firmly while lowering her back to the couch. Felicity slid a hand along the skin of his cheek as those beautiful brown eyes looked down in her soul. "I love you so much." Bruce lips seized the nape of her neck first, and Felicity's eyes fluttered closed, as she brought her leg up and over his thigh allowing his body to mesh deeper into hers. A moan escaped her lips the moment his mischievous fingers began searching for something she was positive he would find. "Bruce..." she moaned his name against his ear. "Bruce...wait." he didn't hear those words, too lost in the sensations of his own body. "Bruce,-" she nudged his arm and the man finally stopped, lifting his eyes to look down to her in confusion. "Do you hear that?" both laid there silently when they clearly heard the sound of something vibrating. "I think that's my phone."

"And it can't just ring because-"

"Because I did something stupid by giving total access to the bunker's systems to a teenager and I'm afraid she may misuse that power and get herself into trouble." she nudged him again and he groaned before sitting up to let her stand. The woman quickly picked up her phone and frowned. "It's Oliver?" she looked over to Bruce clearly nervous before answering the phone. She opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't need to.

" _Felicity, it's me I need your help."_ Oliver said, and Felicity could hear the tension in his voice.

"Sure, what is it?"

" _Katie's awake, and she's missing."_

The moment the words came out of Oliver's mouth, Felicity eyes widened and she turned to Bruce who stood to his feet.

"We're on our way." Felicity said ending the call and slipping her phone into her pocket. She turned rushing for the door, pushing it open before hurrying out, Bruce right behind her.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" Bruce asked jogging behind Felicity up the stairs.

"Katie awake," the moment she said the words out loud, she actually had to stop and take them in. It had been five months, and with every status report she got from Oliver, there was never any change. She turned to Bruce, still trying to make this moment seem real. "She's awake." Bruce had to pause as the shock of the news captured him as well. His mind went racing with thoughts. "He says she's missing." Bruce frowned, now worried.

"Missing?" he asked and Felicity gave a nod. Bruce turned away, now afraid that a darkness they thought they'd gotten rid of may still be dwelling in their friend. "We have to go." they both turned and rushed upstairs.

It was raining. Katie hadn't really paid attention to the weather until she found herself walking through the dark woods, her hoodie pulled over her head, and her socked feet becoming soaked as she walked through the thick mud. Her hands were stuffed in her pockets and her eyes continued to scan the area as she walked forward, hoping to find a road. She heard the sound of an engine up ahead, and she stopped for a moment. She must be close. She began rushing forward, coming to a sliding halt the moment her socked feet find the hard cemented road. She glances down both ends, and shakes her head because there are no cars. Her eyes looks up spotting a sign, and so she walks over to read it.

"Star City, ten miles." she reads out loud. "What the hell is Star City." she turns and glances up the empty dark road, and lets out a sigh. "Looks like I'm walking." and with that the woman begins her trek to the city.

Oliver returned to the bunker, and when he stepped inside he wasn't sure what to do. He'd just spent the last hour driving around hoping to find her, but she was no where to be found. Oliver found himself pacing.

"You don't remember anything." he muttered to himself. He was trying to put himself in the mind of his wife. Trying to think of what her next move would be. "Where would you go?" he closed his eyes trying to answer those questions but he only got more questions. "Who would you run to?" he stopped and his eyes glanced over to the Guardian's suit.

" _You're the biggest pain in the ass I have ever met!" he snapped and Katie stopped right outside her door before turning to him. "You were this close-" he held up his thumb and index finger close together. "-to having a bullet in your back. You were almost killed and I almost-" he sighed. "I almost lost you and then you just run away." he shook his head. "Now it doesn't even matter, because I get it now. You got this, right? You can handle all of this on your own, without anyone's help. Good luck with that." he turned about to go back to his room._

" _Trust no one!" she yelled so loudly that he just had to stop and turn back to her. "For three years those three words were etched into my brain._ _" she brought her eyes to Oliver who stood unmoving. "You have no idea what it feels like to-" she just shook her head._

Oliver suddenly remembered the version of his wife he met when she returned to Starling. She was surrounded by walls put up to keep everyone out. She trusted no one, and never let anyone in.

"You're not running to anyone." Oliver muttered his eyes glued to his wife's suit. "You don't trust anyone." He took a step forward. "You're going to run." Oliver's phone suddenly rang and he quickly snagged it from his pocket hoping for news about his wife. He saw Thea's name and suddenly thought that maybe Katie came to the house. He quickly answered. "Thea, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I was just getting worried. It was getting late and I thought you'd be home by now. Plus you really should be sleeping, you have a busy day tomorrow, or more like today." Oliver's eyes looked back to the Guardian's suit and he let out a sighed. "Ollie? Is everything alright?"

"Thea, she's awake." saying the words out loud still didn't make it seem real. He needed to see her, needed to know where she was and if she was alright. "Twinkie's awake."

"Really?" the emotion cracked in Thea's voice as she took in the news. "Are you with her, is she-"

"No, apparently she woke up yesterday, but Jacob decided not to call me." Oliver took a step back, dropping to the step to sit, his eyes still looking at that suit. "She woke up with no memory of the last three and a half years."

"Oh my God, Ollie. She doesn't know you're married, that she has daughter?"

"No, and more than likely she probably thinks I'm dead. Jacob didn't tell her about any of it. He also didn't tell her that she was in an ARGUS facility and that he was an ARGUS agent."

"And given that three years ago ARGUS was just the agency that kidnapped her and tortured her," Thea scoffed. "She freaked out."

"She did, and she also ran away all before I showed up. No one knows where she is, and right now I need to know where she is." Oliver slid his fingers through his hair trying not to let the nervousness and the anxiousness buried inside of him come spewing out. "Speedy-"

"Ollie, just, find her. Don't worry about anything else. I'll cover for you at City Hall, but-" Thea paused. "What should I tell Ari?" Oliver dropped his head to his hand. It was yet another moment where the man was unsure what the right decision is.

"Nothing, I will talk to Ari once I find Katie." Oliver said standing to his feet. "I called Felicity and she's on her way back to Star City. In the mean time, I think I'm going to go out looking for her again. The ARGUS facility is only a couple miles out. There's a chance she's close, if not already here. I just have to find her."

"Call me if you find something...or if you find nothing, just call me."

"I will." Oliver said ending the call. He turned back to the Guardian's suit, his thumb sliding over his wedding band trying to calm his nerves. "I'm going to find you Twinkie."

Felicity was completely focused on the laptop in front of her as their plane neared Star City. Her fingers moving rapidly as the screen continuously changes from various images around the city. The woman chewed on her bottom lip because she was on the second scanning of the city and still hadn't found a facial match for Katie.

"No, we're on our way now." came Bruce's voice as he walked back to take his seat across from the woman. "Right now we don't know." he looked over to Felicity who hadn't turned away from her computer. "Like I said, I don't know. There's a chance, but until I actually see her, I won't know." he paused once again. "Well that could go bad if we're wrong. Right now I want to see what's happening before the cavalry is called. I-" he groaned in annoyance. "This was just a courtesy call, Clark. If something is wrong, I'll give you a call." Bruce ended the call, and looked back over to Felicity who hadn't torn her eyes from the screen in front of her. "Anything?"

"Nothing. I think I should widen my search parameters." Felicity said once again furiously tying. "I mean maybe she didn't head to the city."

"That facility was placed strategically near Star City for a reason. It's close, so if she were searching for some place safe to hide, that's where she would go." Bruce said, and Felicity simply gave a short nod. "Felicity-"

"If the next words out of your mouth is a suggestion that I stop and take a break, I will throw something at you." Felicity said. "My best friend is awake and she's missing, and I wasn't there for her."

"You can't possibly think any of this is your fault." Bruce said, but Felicity didn't respond. "Felicity-"

"Of course I don't think this is my fault Bruce. "She stopped typing and finally met his eyes. "But my best friend was in a coma and I wasn't there for her." Bruce opened his mouth to speak, but Felicity just continued. "And I don't regret leaving, that's not what I'm saying. I just-" she shook her head. "I wished I could've been there. She woke up to Jacob who probably lied to her and that's why she ran off. She thinks she's alone...that we're not here for her. I need to find her so she knows she doesn't have to go through this by herself."

The rain had finally stopped the moment Katie finally crossed over into the city limits. She could see the lights, and so she ignored the pain of her sore feet and legs as she was taught, and continued. It was late, like seriously late, and so the people she first spotted didn't look like the people she should walk up to for help. Katie kept her head down, kept her hood up hiding her face. She vaguely remembered her surroundings, some of the buildings looked familiar. Her eyes continued scanning the block, noting a couple of eyes on her and so she walked a bit faster. She needed to get off of the street, for a variety of reasons. The sound of a church bell began ringing and Katie lifted her head as she followed the sound before it stopped. Soon her eyes landed on the large church and she didn't hesitate as she ran across the street and up the stairs. She reached for the door handle and pulled open the door, relieved that it actually was unlocked.

Katie dropped into the pews, finally letting out a heavy sigh. The moment she stopped moving everything seemed to catch up to her. Her mind began analyzing everything that occurred since waking up and how her entire world was turned upside down. Katie lifted her eyes to the the alter up front, and the hanging crucifixion. She was never a religious person...never had that sense of belief in a higher power that rights the wrongs of the world. And given the horrible things that have been done to her, that hasn't really changed. "Don't worry, I won't be here long. In the morning you and I can just go our separate ways." Katie pulled off the hoodie that was still a bit damp. She balled it up and placed it on the pew beside her before twisting her body to lay down. She didn't want to go to sleep, she actually wanted to keep moving, to place as much distance between her and ARGUS and her father as possible, but right now she was exhausted, and given that not even forty eight hours earlier, she was in a coma, trying to travel cross country so quickly probably wasn't the best idea. So she would rest, get her strength back, and then keep going.

It was almost dawn when Felicity and Bruce arrived at the bunker. They both stood silently in the elevator, and the moment the doors opened, Felicity rushed off, her eyes seeing Curtis immediately.

"Hey," Curtis said standing to his feet, hoping for a proper greeting, but Felicity simply nudged him out of the way before dropping in her seat.

"Hi Curtis," she said, not even glancing up to him as she began typing. "Has your search for Katie turned up any results?"

"No, not yet, and I've been trying for a couple of hours. Are we sure she's in the city?" he asked and Felicity didn't say anything and so he looked over to Bruce.

"Right now, we're hoping she hasn't left the city." Bruce said walking over to stand behind Felicity. "Where's Oliver?"

"I think he's still out looking for her." Curtis replies with a shake of his head. "I can't believe this. I mean I know we were all hoping that this would happen, but after all these months-"

"I knew she would wake up." Felicity said her eyes still staring at the computer. "I knew she would come back." the sound of the elevator made them lift their heads to see Oliver as he rushed inside. He looked to Bruce first before turning to Felicity who he should've known would already be working away.

"Anything?" Oliver asked and Felicity just shook her head. Oliver turned away, sliding a hand over his face. Too much time was passing by. And with every passing second, his fear that he was getting further and further away from Katie only grew. "So we have nothing?" he turned back to the others.

"Well I was able to get that surveillance footage from ARGUS you said would be coming." Curtis said and Oliver nodded before walking over as Curtis typed a few keys and soon the video began playing. They all stopped, and looked to the monitor their eyes wide at the sight of Katie standing there with a gun pointed at Jacob.

" _How do I get out of here?"_ Oliver took a step toward the monitor, his eyes on his wife " _How the hell do I get out of this place?"_

" _And go where?" Jacob asked and she turned back to the man. "Katherine, in your state-"_

" _In my state, I'm holding a gun that I can successfully use to shoot you right in your head before you could say another word. Do not placate me! Do not try to talk in calm and soothing tones, because there is absolutely no way in hell I'm staying another night in this place. I am going to get out of here, and I am going to get as far away as possible."_ They all watched as silence followed the statement. Katie's eyes glanced around the hall and that's when she noticed a sprinkler overhead, and no one expected her to fire off a couple of shots activating the sprinkler system, before shooting into the lights above them bringing the hall into darkness. The video stopped and Oliver took a step back, his eyes once again looking over to the Guardian's suit and swallowing the emotions now settling in his throat.

"What if she's gone?" Oliver asked, more to himself. It was the question that had been playing in his head after the first couple of hours after she'd been missing. Now it was almost morning and they had nothing. He turned back to his friends who heard his question but didn't seem to have an answer.

"She's not gone." It was Felicity who broke the silence and firmly declared. "She's in this city, Oliver. We will find her...or she might find us." Oliver looked over to the woman and simply gave a nod before watching as she and Curtis each turned back to their computers and began typing away. He looked over to Bruce who nudged his head, and so Oliver walked over to him.

"Have you talked to Jacob? Is there a search in progress."

"There better not be." Oliver replied with a shake of his head. "From this point on, I want Jacob or ARGUS no where near my wife. I actually thought—" Oliver turned back to Bruce. "I thought he was different now, but he's still Jacob. Still making moves that best suit him."

"Look I get it. He's an asshole, but ARGUS has resources we could use right now. I'm going to head over, see what they've got, and I'll give you a call." Oliver watched as Bruce walked over to Felicity, whispering something to her that made her stop and turn to him. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she simply nodded before he placed a kiss to her cheek.

Once Bruce was gone, Oliver found himself standing there unsure what to do. Felicity lifted her eyes to the man and sighed before standing to her feet and walking over. She could see the nervousness oozing from him and knew the waiting around wasn't helping.

"Hey, why don't you head home." Felicity said and Oliver shook his head.

"No, if you guys find something-"

"If we find something, you will be the first person we call. Oliver you haven't slept, and your kids will be awake soon wondering where you are." Felicity said and Oliver turned away from her. "Does Ari know?"

"I'm not even sure how to have that conversation." Oliver sighed sliding a hand over his face. "I don't want to get her hopes up if this isn't the reunion we were all hoping for. I just don't want her worrying about this." his eyes veered to the damn suit once again, and he knew if he didn't get out of here, he was going to go crazy. "Alright, fine-" he turned back to Felicity. "But if you find anything-"

"First call, Oliver," she said, and even though she could see the hesitance in his eyes, he gave a nod before turning and stepping onto the elevator.

The sun was barely up when Oliver stepped through the doors of his home. The house was quiet, but he knew in a couple of hours that would change. He walked into the living room where he found his sister asleep on the couch, clutching her cell phone in her hand.

"Thea," Oliver whispered, and the woman suddenly jolted up, bringing the phone to her ear.

"Hello? Oliver, did you find her?" her eyes turned to her brother before looking down to her phone and shaking her head and tossing it aside. She looked back up to Oliver before standing to her feet. "Any luck?"

"No, not yet. Curtis and Felicity are still searching, but they haven't found anything yet." Oliver replied sliding a hand across the back of his neck to help relieve some of the tension,

"Hey, " Thea placed a hand on her brother's shoulder. "This is Felicity we're talking about. She's going to find her." Oliver simply nodded before looking down to his watch. "Don't worry about any Mayor stuff, I've cleared your schedule for the day."

"Thanks Thea, I don't think I would be able to focus on anything else today. I just-" he looked over to his sister. "I need to find her, and I need to make sure she's ok."

"And you will." she gave her brother a comforting pat to his shoulder. "You should try to get some sleep." he looked over to her and she smiled. "And I know sleep is the last thing you want to do right now, but you look exhausted." Oliver nods before turning and heading for the stairs, but he stopped and turned back to his sister.

"Thanks again Thea for, well, everything."

"You never have to thank me, Oliver." Thea replies before watching her exhausted and nervous brother finally head upstairs to get some rest.

The smell of blood lingered from Katie's nightmare, and she jilted awake. Moments after her eyes opened, Katie forgot where she was and sat up, remembering that she stumbled into this church. She let out a sigh as she ran a hand across her face.

"Oh, you're awake." a voice spoke, and Katie jumped to her feet, her eyes going to the man dressed in the black clerical attire, she assumes is the priest of the church.

"Uh, I'm sorry-" Katie turned and grabbed her hoodie. "I shouldn't have—"

"Hey, it's fine, you don't have to go." the priest said quickly stepped a bit closer. "The doors of this church are always open to anyone who needs help." Katie turned back to the man and she noticed he seemed a bit younger than she would think a priest would be. He looked like he was maybe even younger than her. " One of the sisters saw you earlier, but didn't want to wake you."

"Uh, yeah, it was raining, and I literally had no where else to go." Katie said slipping on her hoodie that hadn't completely dried from the rain. "But I should go." she stepped into the aisle, and the priest was able to get a good look at her damp and crumpled clothing, and also noticed that she wasn't wearing any shoes.

"Were you hungry?" he asked and Katie turned back to him. "I was just about to head down to the kitchen for breakfast and Sister Agnes makes the best pancakes I've ever had. Don't tell my mother I said that though." Katie looked hesitant, her eyes glancing over her shoulder back to the doors. She wasn't sure she should stay in one place for too long. "Plus we get donated shoes and clothes." she turned back to the man.

"I really should go." Katie said with a shake of her head before turning to the door and only taking a step. It was the fact that she had no idea where she was going to go when she stepped outside that stopped her. She took in a deep breath before turning back to the priest and he simply smiled. "So how good are these pancakes?"

"They're going to knock your socks off." he said with a laugh that died off when he realized the woman's shoeless feet only had socks. "I didn't mean-"

"I'm the last person you're going to offend." Katie said before holding out her hand to the man. "I'm-" she wasn't really sure about using her real name and so she decided that maybe she should lie. "I'm Robin."

"Robin, I'm Father Samuel, but you can call me Sam." he said shaking her hand. He nudged his head. "We should head down. Sister Agnes will never let me hear the end of it if I'm late for breakfast." Katie glanced once more to the doors before turning and following behind the priest.

The annoying alarm clock blared, and Ari's eyes snapped open before she reached over to turn it off. She let out a huff before standing out of bed and opening the door. She glanced out wondering why it was so quiet. She quirked a brow before heading down the hall and peeking inside of Robyn's room to find the girl bouncing up and down in her crib.

"Ree!" the baby called and and Ari just shook her head as she walked over to pluck the girl from her crib.

"Where's your dad, stinker?" Ari asked as she brought the baby to the changing table to change her diaper. "This so better get tacked on as good behavior to have this grounding sentence reduced." Ari picked up the baby, nuzzling her a bit before heading out into the hall. "Lets go find the warden." Ari glanced down to Oliver's bedroom door, and she heard his voice and so she headed over. She was about to knock, but then she stopped.

"How is that possible, Felicity?" Oliver asked and Ari's brow furrowed. She didn't think Oliver and Felicity talked much since she and Bruce took off months ago. Soon her eyes widened at the thought that maybe Felicity was telling Oliver how she was able to access the bunker's systems.

"I'm so dead meat." Ari muttered.

"Ree! Ree!" Robyn squealed and Ari glanced up to the door before turning, about to make a run for it, but suddenly the door opened. Ari turned back to see Oliver staring down to her, phone still pressed to his ear.

"Felicity, I'll call you back." Oliver said before looking down to the teen. "What's up?"

"Nothing, the place was just unusually quiet and so I went to check on the stinker who was stinky." Ari looked down to Robyn who was suddenly lifting her hands to her father who smiled as he pulled the child into his arms and placed a kiss to the top of her head. "So, you were talking to Felicity?"

"I was." Oliver said and he noticed how she suddenly seemed nervous.

"Interesting conversation?" Ari asked and Oliver quirked a brow.

"If by interesting you mean did she tell me how she granted you access to the bunker's mainframe, no she didn't mention it, but I was going to bring that up to her later." Ari sighed, dropping her head before looking back up to the man with a smile.

"I changed a diaper this morning, that has to reduce my sentence by at least a week." Oliver couldn't help but chuckle.

"Try a day, now, c'mon, I'll make breakfast." He said, ignoring the groan from the teenager.

Katie felt their eyes on her as she at her breakfast. The priest and the two nuns who seemed nervous for some reason.

"So..." Father Samuel said, and Katie lifted her eyes from her plate to look over to the man, He glanced over to sister Agnes before turning back to Katie with a smile. "We can take you over to check out some of the clothes to see if you can find anything and-"

"That's really not necessary." Katie says dropping her fork with a shake of her head. "This is really a lot, and I don't want to put anyone out or anything." she stands to her feet and gives the man a smile before turning and heading out of the kitchen.

"How far will you get?" the question was asked out loud, but it was a question Katie hadn't stopped asking herself. She turned to the woman who asked it. It was Sister Agnes. The older woman, her hair hidden underneath her habit. It had came up in conversation during breakfast that Sister Agnes had been at the church the longest. "There's nothing wrong with accepting help."

"There are some out there that wouldn't agree with you." Katie said, her eyes turning away as a stray thought of the demon struck her, only adding to her nervousness. She shook her head before turning back to the nun. "I just can't be here. Thank you so much for everything, but I-"

"Clean clothes, shoes... I believe they will help you on your journey, don't you think?" Agnes asked taking a step forward. "I know trusting people is hard, trusting their intentions can be even more difficult, but sometimes you just have to trust yourself, trust what deep down you know is true." the woman took another step toward Katie who sighed. Katie glanced over her shoulder, that nagging fear that at some point the people chasing her will be right there on her tail. Sister Agnes was right though. She looked down to the dingy shirt and sweat pants, the muddy socks that were now dried and crusting. Right now she didn't blend in, and whatever her next step was, she knew she couldn't stand out.

"Ok," Katie says turning back to the nun, before glancing over to the priest. "Where can I find these clothes?"

Oliver's eyes were closed, for only a few moments as he rode the elevator down to the bunker. It was a tough morning, trying to pretend as if he weren't going crazy with worry for his wife. He didn't want to tip Ari off that something was wrong, and even though he's sure she senses something isn't quite right, she still doesn't know the truth, which he would tell her. He really just needed to find Katie, and ensure she was truly alright, and that the darkness was truly gone.

When the doors finally opened, Oliver opened his eyes, walking out and stopping because there was no one there. He glanced around, and when he didn't see anyone, he pulled out his cell phone.

"Hey," Oliver pulled the phone from his ear turning to the voice to see Bruce.

"Hey," Oliver say walking over to the man. "Where is everyone?"

"Well Curtis and Felicity were burning the candle at both ends so I told them to take a break." Bruce saw the look on Oliver's face, and when his mouth opened Bruce continued. "And I know you want to find her, Oliver, we all do, but we weren't going to do it by killing ourselves. The search is still going and we all would've been notified if there had been a match." Oliver shook his head before turning, and sliding his fingers over his eyes. He hadn't slept a wink.

"I spoke to Felicity this morning," he turned back to Bruce. "Even after searching all night, you guys weren't able to find anything."

"No, but when I went to ARGUS, we were able to trace the route she took from the facility." Bruce said nudging his head to the monitor before heading over. Oliver was right behind him as they both turned to the large screen. Bruce typed a few keys and soon a grainy black and white video appeared. It looked to be the back door of the facility. The door opened, and Oliver leaned in closer. He saw a figure that he couldn't really make out. "we tried to clean the video up as much as we could without causing any distortion, but-"

"It's her." Oliver said as he watched the woman cautiously step outside the door, her eyes scanning the area as if expecting someone to pop out and grab her. When no one showed, Oliver watched as his wife turned and bolted out into the surrounding woods.

"They have cameras set up in various points in the area surrounding the facility,-" soon multiple screens appeared, each showing a shot of Katie quickly running past. "She seems to be moving toward the highway, and if we're right then she would've ended up right..." a map appeared on the screen, a blinking red dot flashing below his finger. "Here. That's ten miles from the city." Bruce turned to Oliver who hadn't turned away from the monitor. "You're right, she has to be somewhere in this city."

"Yeah, but where?" Oliver muttered.

"Have you considered police involvement?" Bruce asked and Oliver turned to the man with a furrowed brow. "We could use more eyes on the streets right now."

"Absolutely not. She's running because she's completely freaked out. Right now, in her mind, she just found out her father works for the people who completely destroyed her. She will not trust anyone she doesn't know, and the woman I ran into four years ago would not hesitate to attack someone she thought was a threat." Bruce turned away figuring the man was right. Mixing the police with an amnesic Robins could possibly cause more troubles. "It's just-" Oliver walked over to the display case that held the Guardian's suit. "I've been thinking all night about what she would do, where she would go?"

"And?"

"If she's in this city, that's only a couple of miles from ARGUS—" Oliver turned back to Bruce.

"She plans on getting further away." Bruce said and Oliver gave a nod. "She's gonna need money, and an ID, all of which she didn't have when she ran away."

"Well my wife doesn't let things like semantics get in her way." Oliver replied turning back to the suits and letting out a heavy sigh. "She's going to find a way out of this city, we just need to find her before she does." Both men turned at the sound of the elevator doors opening to see Felicity rushing off.

"Hey, I thought—"

"I was resting Bruce, and now I'm completely rested. Something's happening." Felicity said nudging her head for the men to follow her over to the computers. "I've been monitoring surveillance video all over the city—"

"Did you find something?" Oliver asked as he hovered over Felicity's shoulder, watching her type away.

"Not exactly. I've also may have placed a few ears and eyes inside of ARGUS central system in case they found something we didn't."

"Jacob isn't supposed to be doing anything." Oliver said angrily. "I told him to stay out of this."

"I'm sure that's what you told him, but everyone here knows that probably wasn't going to happen." Bruce said looking down to the screen as well. "Is this a search order?"

"Yes—" soon a map appeared on the screen. "ARGUS seems to think Katie may have taken this route into the city. Jacob has sent a few agents around this area to see if she's been there or if anyone spotted her."

"You got all of this from your eyes and ears in ARGUS?" Bruce asked turning to the woman who glanced over to him for a second before turning back to the monitor. "Ms. Smoak—"

"Well I am monitoring their central system, and I really did get the search notice, but I had to get the details from Lyla." Felicity replied before turning to Oliver. "She didn't know you weren't informed about Katie waking up. She wants to help us find her."

"Felicity send that map to my phone. Hopefully I can track her before those agents." Oliver said already heading out.

"Hey wait up, I'm coming with you!" Bruce called before placing a kiss to the top of Felicity's head and hurrying after the man.

The clothes didn't quite fit, but they would do. Katie stood in the large bathroom as she pulled her dark hair back, and twisting it into a bun. She zipped up the slightly over sized hoodie before gathering up her old clothes. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she glanced around the large room filled with beds. Sister Agnes mentioned that there was a shelter under the church that had just been renovated for more space. She expected someone to be here waiting for her. When she didn't see anyone, she turned spotting the jacket the sister had went searching for while Katie took her shower. She walked over, noticing the laundry bag as well and so she toss the old clothes inside. Pulling on the jacket, Katie walked from the sleeping quarters, back into the long hall in hopes of finding someone. After only a few moments, she realized that maybe now was the time to disappear.

Katie hurried up the stairs, finally finding a familiar hall. The doors weren't too far, and hopefully she could make it out without running into the father or the nun. She'd found the door that lead to nave and only took a step out before stopping. Her eyes looked over to the back of the church where she spotted Father Samuel speaking with two men in suits.

"And you're sure you haven't seen this woman around, father?" one of the men asked, and Samuel looked down to the picture studying the familiar face of the woman before looking up to the men and shaking his head.

"Can't say that I have." the priest replied.

Katie heard footsteps behind her and quickly turned to see Sister Agnes, who held a finger to her lips and gestured for Katie to step back into the hall. Katie glanced back to the men still talking to the priest, before she quietly backed into the hall, letting the door close without a sound.

"Who are those people?" Katie whispered.

"I'm not sure, but they're men with badges asking about you." Katie's eyes went wide as she turned away.

"I'm so sorry about this." Katie says turning back to the woman. "I shouldn't have came here, and he shouldn't have lied for me." Katie shook her head.

"Hey, Father Sam may be new here, but he's a great judge of character." the woman said before nudging her head for Katie to follow her. Both woman quickly and quietly headed down the hall, before the nun pushed open a door that lead to the back of the church. She only opened it a bit, peaking out to make sure the coast was clear. "I don't see anyone." she turned back to Katie who moved around her to look out as well.

"I have to go." Katie says before turning to the woman. "Thanks so much for your help, and tell the Father thanks too." with that Katie stepped out into the back alley about to make a run for it.

"Wait!" Sister Agnes called and Katie stopped and turned to her. "I just—you told Father Sam your name is Robin." Katie didn't say anything as she continued to stare at the woman. "He's been overseas doing Missionary work for a few years, so when you told him your name was Robin, he honestly believed you, but I—I know who you are." the sound of voices from down the alley made Katie turn her head before turning back to the woman.

"But I don't." Katie replied before pulling her hood over her head and running away.

The moment the car stopped, both Bruce and Oliver stepped out of the car, letting their eyes scan the area. The neighborhood had been familiar to Oliver during his campaign days, so he recognized a few of the buildings. His eyes zeroed in on a a few men in suits who were posted around the neighborhood.

"He has an entire team here." Oliver said with a shake of his head before looking over to Bruce. "If they corner her—"

"Yeah, that won't be pretty." Bruce replied as he continued scanning the area. "I can't believe Jacob thought this would be a good idea."

"Well Jacob's decision making has been shit lately." Oliver sighed before nudging his head. "I'll go this way."

"And I guess I'll go the other." Bruce muttered before turning and heading across the street.

Oliver found himself walking down the sidewalk, pulling on a smile as he passed by people who were probably wondering what he was doing there. Pair that with the men in suits probably flashing around pictures of his wife, he was sure the news that she was awake wouldn't be a secret for long. He just hoped that he could find her first. Oliver continued down the side walk, his eyes scanning the area, so focused on the area around him, but not the path in front of him. His shoulder bumped into someone who didn't even stop walking.

"Hey, I'm sorry!" he called after the quickly moving person whose face had been hidden underneath a hood.

"It's fine," it was her voice that made Oliver freeze. It was her voice that touched the inner beings of his soul. She didn't turn around, or look at him. He didn't actually see her face, but from those two words he knew exactly who she was.

"Twinkie!" he called, but she was moving too quickly. He ran after her as quickly as he could. He could still see her up ahead, now across the street. His heart sank when he saw the city bus stop right in front of her and her step on. "Wait!" she stepped inside, and by the time he was about to cross the street the bus was pulling off. "Wait!" Oliver stood there in the middle of the street watching the bus get further and further away. A horn honked and he turned to see the cars behind him waiting for him the move. He simply held up a hand in apology before moving back to the side walk, quickly taking out his phone.

"Did you find her?" Felicity asked the moment she answered.

"I think so, she—" Oliver looked down the street, no longer able to see the bus anymore. "I bumped into her, but she didn't even look at me. She was moving quickly—"

"She was running. She must've realized ARGUS was in the area and was trying to get away. Did you see where she went?"

"She got on a city bus, the street is 17th and Roosevelt. Any idea where she could be going?" Oliver asked as he turned already heading back to his car.

"I think so. That bus stops two blocks from the train station. I mean if she's trying to get away—" Felicity trailed off. "Could she have gotten an ID and money since last night?"

"No idea. I'm going to head to the train station and hopefully beat her there before anyone sees her." Oliver said sliding into the drivers seat of his car. "If anyone sees her up and about—"

"Yeah, a lot of craziness will ensure. I'm going to see if I can get into the cameras of the station." she heard the sound of Oliver's car starting and pulling off. "And call Bruce to tell him he's going to need a new ride."

Stepping into the train station was a bit daunting. Katie stood there, staring at the people as the bustled about right in front of her. For so long she'd been kept away from the general public, trapped in cages, and assassin fortresses. Her eyes lifted to a large monitor that was showing the trains leaving today, and their destinations and arrivals. The screen changed, and Katie frowned.

"Star City Railway Station." Katie read, and the screen changed again. "Proudly sponsored by the New Beginning's Project of Star City." she glanced around spotting more signs, and she shook her head. "When the hell did they change the name of this city?" she muttered before being bumped, and stumbling back. She turned to see the offender, scurrying off in a hurry as the dragged their suit case behind them. "Home sweet home." Katie turned glancing around trying to figure out how to solve her next problem. She needed a ticket, but first she needed money to pay for that ticket which she didn't have at the moment. She spotted a woman who sat intently reading a book, her purse in the seat beside her. Katie let out a heavy sigh before walking over to sit.

Katie repeated over and over again in her head, how one day she'd pay this woman back. That it was really just borrowing not even stealing. She glanced around, glad no one was really paying attention to her. She glanced over, the woman's purse was slightly opened, her wallet right there. She had to do it. She looked around once more, only this time she noticed eyes on her. There sitting across from her was a little boy who was blatantly staring right at Katie. Katie shook her head turning away from him, now coming to the conclusion that she really couldn't do this. She dropped her face to her hands and really tried to think of what she should do next. She lifted her head, to see the boy still staring at her. She simply stuck out her tongue at him before standing to her feet and venturing to the bathroom.

Oliver wasn't even sure he turned off his car before rushing out and pulling open the doors to the train station. He let his eyes scan over the many faces, for some reason really noticing how huge this place way. If his wife was here, she could be anywhere.

"Hey!" Oliver turned, not expecting to see his sister rushing over to him.

"Thea, what are you doing here?"

"I called Felicity, and she told me she thinks Katie could be here and that you were on your way. I figured since this place was like Fort Knox, you could use some help looking around."

"Yeah," Oliver lifted his eyes once again, just hoping to see her face in the crowd of people moving about. "I'll look up here, you want to check downstairs?"

"Sure, but Oliver—" the man turned to his sister. "We're going to find her, ok." Oliver gave her a nod before turning off and sifting into the crowd. Thea stood there a moment longer letting out a long sigh. "We have to find her."

Katie splashed the water of her eyes hoping for clarity in a moment of absolute uncertainty. For so long her mission was to come home, because this is where she would be safe. Now she's home and it's not as safe as she thought it would be. She pulled back her hand, her eyes glancing down to the diamond ring still covering her finger. She has no idea why she hasn't taken it off. She could probably sell it for the money she needs, and yet she doesn't. She has no idea who put this ring on her finger, but she feels so deeply that she just can't take it off.

The door to the bathroom squeaked open and in walked a man and woman both laughing at something before they looked over to Katie. Katie glanced over to them through the mirror. She noticed both looked a little grungy. It was the man, who looked up noticing the ring on Katie's finger.

"That looks nice." he said, a cringy smile curling on his lips as he steps toward Katie. "I think it'll look even better on my old lady's finger. What do you think, baby?" he looks over his shoulder to the ashy blonde haired woman who smiled as she walked over as well, her eyes look to the ring.

"Oh, yes, it most certainly will." she said as she looked up to Katie and laughed. Katie watched as the man pulled out a small blade that he pointed toward her.

"Hand it over." he demanded, and Katie looked down to the blade before looking back up to the couple. "Did you hear me, I said—"

"Wait, do you two have money on you?" Katie asked, and the couple looked over to her in confusion. "Actually, never mind, I'll find out soon enough."

There were way too many people Oliver thought as he continued his search. He looked at the faces of every person that passed him, and it was never her. He was getting more nervous as thought he didn't want to have filtered into his mind. What if missed her? What if she were already on a train getting further and further away. Oliver stopped walking, and just let his eyes move over the faces around him, when suddenly he's bumped.

"Sorry about that," was the rushed response of a security guard that was now running. Oliver followed the guard with his eyes as he joined a small group of guards that seemed to be running as well. Oliver suddenly got nervous and decided to follow.

When Oliver arrived, there was already a small crowd gathered around. He sifted through the crowd, only to be stopped by a guard who held out a hand to stop him.

"I'm sorry sir, but you're—" the guard stopped and looked to Oliver as if only now realizing who was standing in front of him. "Mr. Mayor? I'm sorry, I—"

"What's going on?" Oliver asked, trying to look around the guard. Something was going on in the women's bathroom.

"There seems to have been an attack. A man and woman inside were badly beaten and robbed. We're still searching for a suspect. The SCPD is on the way." Oliver turned back to the guard and gave a nod. "Sir, did you—" Oliver didn't even let the man finish before turning and walking off. He couldn't explain it, but he knew this was Katie. She was here, but he just wasn't sure for how long.

Katie kept her head down and her hood over her head as she waited in line. She noticed an increase of security presence, they were searching for someone, specifically her. She just needed to get the hell out of here before they realized it. Soon it was her turn and so she stepped forward to the ticket window.

"Hi, yes, I need a ticket to the earliest train leaving the station." Katie said not even meeting the ticket agent's eyes.

"Uh, ok—" the agent turned back her computer looking at the schedules. "We have a train leaving in 10 minutes to Coast City."

"Perfect, I'll take it." Katie says sliding the agent some crumpled bills. The agent grabbed the money, before looking back up the woman in front of her who still wasn't really meeting her gaze which made her seem like a red flag.

"And your ID?" the agent asked, and Katie turned to her.

"My what?"

"Your ID, we need it to book your ticket." the agent watched as Katie dropped her head and let out a deep sigh.

"Look, I don't have an ID. I just really need to get out of this city." Katie lifted her eyes to the woman behind the glass. "If there's something you could do or—"

"Wait a minute." the agent stood from her chair, and moved in closer to the window. "You're—oh my gosh, I thought you were in a coma." Katie's eyes went wide as she looked to the woman. How the hell did she know that, Katie thought. She didn't have time to get an answer to the question, she really just needed to get out of here before anyone else noticed her. Katie didn't say anything before turning around and bumping into a guy standing behind her.

"Sorry, I wasn't—" she looked up to the man who was now staring at her with wide eyes."You're Katherine!" he yelled before pulling out his phone.

Katie pushed him aside trying to get away, but soon that was impossible because people must've heard him and were now crowding around her. This couldn't be happening. Katie spun around, her heart now drumming in her chest. She was supposed be in the shadows, and now it was like the entire train station was looking right at her. They were all talking at once, yelling out things to her as they held up their phones to record her. She closed her eyes dropping her head as she clamped her hands over her ears. She felt her body begin to shake and she doesn't know if it's fear she's feeling right now, or panic. She has to go...now. She lifts her eyes and pushes her way through the growing crowd. Cameras are now flashing, and they're all still talking, still yelling and at this point it's all just incoherent.

"Please, I just—" shoving past them was getting harder. "I just want to go. Please just let me—" hands were suddenly on her shoulders, and Katie lifted her eyes up quickly fully prepared to attack, but she couldn't. It was the eyes staring back at her. The eyes she never expected to see in a million years staring back at her in the middle of this damn train station. Those eyes that were still blue...still so breathtakingly blue. For a moment she thought she was hallucinating. She figured at this point, this moment being a creation in her mind just seemed logical, but then he spoke.

"Twinkie?" and that was it. That was the straw that broke the camel's back on this entire crazy fucking day. Her brain and reality didn't seem to be computing well at the moment.

"I—" she thinks the sound came out of her mouth, but she's not completely sure. She isn't completely sure of anything at the moment.

Which is probably why in the next moment, she faints.


	3. Welcome to Your Life

**Chapter 3**

**Welcome to Your Life**

" _I used to think the worst feeling in the world is losing someone you love.  
_ _But I was wrong, the worst feeling in the world_ _is_ _the moment that you realize you've lost yourself."_

_L.J Smith_

* * *

Love is a scary thing. It drives you and manipulates you into becoming someone totally different. It has so much control and most of the time you're completely unaware of it's affects. Oliver Queen was the perfect example of this case. Oliver sat in a chair, his eyes looking up to the woman still unconscious in the bed in front of him and he was sure it was love that made him ignore everything outside the walls they were in.

_Oliver wasn't sure what reaction he'd get from his wife when he finally saw her. There were so many people around her, yelling her name and he knows the whole situation was just a lot. He wasn't that surprised that the moment she saw him, she fainted. He quickly reached forward, catching her in his arms and hiking her up. Oliver held the woman firmly in his arms, his eyes looking down to her and his heart swelled. He'd sat by her bedside for months, each day hope seemed to be dwindling that she would ever wake up, and now here she is._

" _Mr. Queen!" Oliver lifted his eyes, now remembering the crowd surrounding them, taking their pictures._

" _How is this possible?!"_

" _We thought she was in a coma!"_

" _Where has she been this whole time?!"_

_Each question was yelled one right after the other, but Oliver had no intention of answering. Right now only one thing matter._

" _Ollie!" Oliver turned to see his sister pushing her way through the crowd. The moment Thea was standing in front of them, her eyes looked down to Katie suddenly overcome with emotions. "I can't believe it. She's really-" Thea shook her head._

" _Thea, we need to get out of here, now." Oliver said and Thea looked up to her brother who seemed to be eyeing the crowd with a look she didn't like. He looked like he'd fight his way out of here right now if there were no other option._

" _I know, I made a call." Thea said and Oliver turned to her, before hearing the sound of high pitched whistle. He lifted his eyes to see the police pushing the crowd back. Soon there was enough space for them to move and so Oliver quickly carried Katie away from the crowd and out the door._

She'd been out for hours, and Oliver felt this moment so reminiscent of the many nights he spent sitting in that hospital room at her bedside. Only this time was different. This time she would mutter in her sleep, or her fingers slightly twitched and her head, it turned.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and Oliver sighed knowing he couldn't ignore the world forever. He pulled the phone from his pocket and looked down to see Ari's face and he let out a sigh. He's sure at this point the appearance of Katie has been playing on the news and he knows Ari has questions. Oliver glanced over to Katie once more before standing to his feet and walking out of the room to finally answer.

Ari stood near the window, peaking out to see the herd of reporters standing in the front of their house. Hours earlier, Thea showed up to pull her out of school and when she asked what was going on, Thea simply told her that Oliver would explain everything. Hank, Steve and a few other guards actually had to escort them into the house as they made sure no one got too close to them. Ari expected to find Oliver inside, but the man was nowhere in sight.

"Thea?" Ari turned to Thea who hurried upstairs with Robyn. Ari followed after the woman, to see her walk into the nursery where she laid the baby down. "Thea, will you tell me what's going on?" Thea turned to the girl with a frown, but she didn't say anything. Ari simply shook her head before turning and stalking toward Oliver's room, pushing open the door. It was empty as well, and so she headed over to the drawer next to the bed.

"Ari, what are you-" Thea now stood at the door watching as the girl pulled opened the drawer, and picked up her confiscated cell phone. "Ari, wait-" Thea quickly went over as Ari powered on the cell phone. "Ari-" Ari jumped up on the bed to get away from the woman before quickly running inside of the bathroom and locking the door behind her. "Ari! Open the door!" Thea pounded on the door, but Ari's eyes looked down to the phone until it powered on completely and the moment it did, it was flooded with messages and news alerts. Ari pressed one of the notifications only to be brought to a video. She gasped at the sight of her cousin who was standing there completely conscious. The pounding on the door continued, until Ari turned and pulled open the door. "Ari-" Ari turned the phone and showed it to Thea who sighed.

"Is she awake?" Ari asked and Thea looked from the phone to the girl and nodded. "And Oliver is with her now. Right?"

"Ari, he's-"

"Where is she? I want to see her?"

"That can't happen right now. Let's just-" Ari rolled her eyes before once again closing the door and dialing Oliver's number.

Oliver stood in the hallway, his eyes glancing back to the bedroom door before answering the call and bringing the phone to his ear.

"Ari-"

"My cousin has awaken from a coma and I get to find out from some cell phone captured video online!" Ari snapped angrily.

"Ari, I'm sorry, but-"

"No, I don't want your apology because that won't change anything. You just need to know that me finding out like this, from the internet instead of you seriously-" Ari shook her head as she let out a shaky breath as the realization that her cousin was awake and back just hit her right there. She slid to the floor, letting her back fall against the door. "Is she ok?"

Oliver glanced back to the door once more and sighed. He wasn't sure how to answer the question because he honestly didn't know.

"I don't know yet." Oliver replied. "Ari, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I just wanted to make sure she really was alright before I told you anything."

"I want to see her. Where are you?"

"Ari, it's just-" Olive once again glanced over to the door. "When she woke up, she didn't remember a lot of things about the last couple of years of her life."

"Seriously? She has like amnesia?"

"I'm not completely sure, but what I know is that she doesn't remember anything about her life from the past three or four years." Oliver said before turning at the sound of the doorbell. "Listen Ari, I have to go, I'm going to call you later." Oliver quickly ended the call, once again looking back to the bedroom door before heading downstairs.

Ari let out a huff of annoyance as she looked down to her phone. She shook her head as she thought about what Oliver had said, and she was still a bit shocked that all of this was happening so suddenly. There was a knock at the door and Ari lifted her head.

"Ari?" Thea said and Ari stood to her feet before opening the door. Thea looked at the girl for a moment before looking to the phone in her hand. "You talked to Oliver?"

"Yeah, my cousin is awake and doesn't remember a lot of stuff about her life." Ari replied turning her head away.

"Listen Ari, I know all of this is a lot and Oliver really doesn't want you to worry about-"

"Pictures!" Ari said suddenly turning to Thea. "Maybe pictures will help jog her memory?" Thea looked at the girl, seeing the sudden hope and Thea just nodded.

"That's a good idea. Why don't you scrounge up as many pictures as you can and we'll send them to Oliver to show Katie." Ari gave a nod before hurrying out of the room. Thea stood there for a moment before dropping down to sit on the edge of the bed. Her eyes looked over to the picture of Oliver and Katie on the table beside the bed and she let out a shaky breath. Her thoughts ventured back to the time she last saw her sister in law. How the darkness had turned her into someone totally different. She hopes this is real, that their Twinkie is back and that the darkness is gone. "This has to be real." the distant sound of Robyn's cries made Thea jump to her feet to check on the child.

Oliver walked to the front door warily. No one knew they were here, so for someone to ring the bell just made him suspicious. Oliver pulled the curtain of the window near the door slightly, not expecting the familiar face. He let out a sigh before pulling open the door.

"Hey Debra," Oliver greeted the woman. Now looking at her just reminded him just how long they'd been gone from their fantasy life here in Coast City.

"Hi, I saw the lights and-" the woman shook her head. "I've seen the news. She's really awake?"

"Yeah, she is. There's just a lot happening, and I thought getting away from the city would be the best for her right now." Oliver said and the woman gave a nod.

"Well we're still just across the street, if you need anything." the woman replied.

"Thanks Debra, and if you don't mind, I don't want us to get a lot of attention here, so if you wouldn't mind-"

"My lips are sealed." she glanced over her should before turning back to the man. "I should get back home. It was good seeing you again Oliver and let Katie know we're praying for her."

"Thanks," With that, Debra turned and left. Oliver closed the door, turning about to head upstairs when his phone once again rang.

Consciousness struck Katie so quick like a slap to the face. She gasped, sitting up quickly taking in her surroundings. Her mind was trying to juggle too many things at once. She was at the rail station and then something happened, suddenly she was surrounded by a crowd of people. From the crowd walked a man she wouldn't have expected in her wildest dreams.

"Oliver." she whispered to her self before standing to her feet. Right now she had to focus on the present and how she ended up in a bed room she doesn't remember walking into. Her eyes looked over to the door, before standing a bit straighter and walking over. She pulled open the door slowly, her eyes peeking out to an empty hall. When she was certain no one was there, she pulled open the door fully before stepping out. She continued to be vigilant, her ears open. There was someone here, she just didn't know where they were. As she walked, she heard someone speaking. The voice got louder the closer she got to the flight of stairs that seemed to lead to a lower level of the house. She glanced down first before taking a step down. Her movements seemed to be unnoticed, and so she continued.

"No, she hasn't waken up yet." Katie stopped walking because that voice seemed very close. "I think she's alright, I just-" he let out a sigh. "Felicity I think I would know if something was really wrong, and then yes I would take her to the hospital." his voice was different, and yet familiar at the same time. Katie tilted her head as she continued to listen. "No, not right now. Now it's just going to be me and then-" Katie turned at the door that was pushed opened behind her. Her eyes widened at the sight of the man she wasn't sure she wanted to be real. "Felicity I have to call you back." he ended the call quickly, turning back to her with a smile. He took a step forward, but she took a step back and so he stopped. Oliver remembered that she probably believes he's dead and the fact that he's standing in front of her is probably freaking her out right now. "Twinkie-"

"Wait!" she said holding up a hand. "Just wait, I kind of need silence in this moment just to-" she couldn't take her eyes off of him. Theories of what was happening started muttering out of her mouth. "Maybe I hit my head, and now I'm still unconscious."

"Twinkie, you're not-"

"You're not supposed to be talking." she said and the man smiled but closed his mouth. "Maybe I've been drugged." she turned away. "I'm probably still in ARGUS in some drug induced coma and now I'm having dreams about dead people." she turned back to Oliver. "Is my mother here?" Oliver continued to look at her a smile firmly on his face, but he didn't say anything. "You mute all of a sudden?"

"You told me not to say anything."

"Since when do you listen to what I say!" she said as she shook her head and began looking around. They were in some large living room, that was beautifully decorated, but like the rest of the house, there were no pictures around. Her eyes spotted the front door and so she took a step forward.

"Twinkie, wait!" he called and she stopped and she has no idea why, but she turned back to him. "I know none of this makes sense." he wanted to move close to her, to touch her, but he's sure she's still extremely confused and one wrong move could end with her beating the crap out of him. "why don't we sit down?" he gestured for them to go to a conjoined room. He took a step toward the room, but she kept her feet planted, and so he stopped. "Or we can stay here." Her eyes were still on him, and for the life of him he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was right here, in front of him, her eyes opened, talking, standing, all the things he was afraid she would never do. They once again stood in silence, and he assumed she was still processing this moment before she spoke again.

"Maybe I'm dead!" she said her eyes going wide as if the realization made complete sense. "I mean that's the only probable way I would be standing here in front of you."

"There is another option." Oliver said and she turned back to him. "You're not dead, and neither am I."

"That's impossible, I was at your funeral!" she said closing her eyes and running her fingers through her hair. "I remember staring at your headstone." she was assaulted with the memory of standing in the grass in front of a headstone with Oliver's name on it. Her father had to practically carry her away.

"There was a storm." Oliver said, but she didn't open her eyes. "The yacht was destroyed. I ended up on an island, and my dad-" Oliver paused unsure why a memory from so long ago still pulled out so much emotion. Katie opened her eyes to see the emotion written on his face. "My dad didn't make it. I was on that island for years before I was rescued." He knew he was leaving out some very important details like crazy soldiers and doctors, men with masks and impossible drugs. He figured right now he should just keep everything as simple as possible. "I came back home." he smiled as he let out a deep sigh. "Then a couple of months later I ran into an old friend. Well more like she showed up on our front lawn, stepped on my friend's foot before making a run for it." she didn't say anything, and he's unsure what to make of it. He remembers all those years ago how those walls she built around herself prevented him from deciphering what she was actually feeling in the moment. He could never tell from the emotionless expression on her face and he forgot how frustrating that was until this moment.

"Maybe I've been abducted by aliens, and this is all just some sort of simulation to study my mind and learn how they can take over earth." she said and Oliver chuckled with a shake of his head. "My theory seems just as plausible as zombie Oliver." she turned and walked further into the living room, needing a moment to determine if she could believe this moment was real. She heard his footsteps behind her and she let out a sigh. That was definitely not an Oliver Queen trait. Going after the woman who seemed upset. He usually jolted in the opposite direction which made believing any of this that much harder.

"Twinkie-" she groaned in annoyance.

"You keep calling me that and you want me to believe we're still friends? You want me to believe I'd go years without telling you how much I hate that stupid ass name?" she asked and the annoying bastard just kept smiling and it made her want to just punch him. "Why the hell do you keep on smiling at me?!"

"I'm sorry, Twinkie—sorry Katie, it's just-" he shook his head before bringing his eyes back to hers. "You were in the coma for a while, and I thought—I thought I would never get this moment, and I'm just here glad I was wrong."

"So the coma was real?" she muttered to herself. She wasn't quite sure how much of her father's story she should believe. She turned back to Oliver. "And the year is-"

"2016." he said and she sighed. "Katie, I know-"

"Have you been in a coma and not remembered anything about your life for the past four years?" she asked and Oliver just shook his head. "Then you don't know." she rubbed her eyes before turning and walking over to the window that was behind her. "I don't know anything, and I have no idea why. I mean that's a big chunk of my life just gone."

"We're going to figure this out." Oliver said, and Katie once again turned her eyes to him and frowned.

"Why are there no pictures in this house? Is it like a safe house?" she asked and Oliver shook his head.

"There were pictures here, but we took them all with us to our house in Star City." Oliver replied and Katie glanced around the house a bit more. It looked nice, actually better than nice, but it was definitely not a house she figures Oliver would live in. She turned back to him, only now noticing the wedding ring on his finger, and she's unsure why she's surprised. Of course he was married, he's Oliver freaking Queen.

"I'm guessing I should blame your wife for this total you make over." she said as she began walking further around the room.

"Well she had a big part in it." he said as his eyes continued to follow her. "She saved my life really." Katie glanced over to him for a moment, seeing that look on his face once again. It was the smile, and that look in his eyes she doesn't think she's seen before.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she finally asked, unable to take it anymore.

"Like what?" he asked and she huffed in annoyance before stalking over to stand in front of him, and pointing to his face.

"Like that, like-" she shook her head. "Like all weird."

"This is how I always look at you."

"I feel so sorry for your wife because she married a weirdo." Katie replied before stalking away from the man and he couldn't help but laugh as he turned to continue following her. They ended up in the large kitchen where Katie continued to look around. "We're the only people here?" she turned around to Oliver.

"Yes, I just thought after what happened at the train station-" Katie turned away, suddenly remembering that moment she was surrounded by so many people. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I wish I got to you sooner."

"Why did that happen?" Katie asked turning back to the man. "Those people looked at me like I was a ghost they were actually happy to see."

"They were. A lot of people are happy you're awake. You've really helped a lot of people in Star City. You're a bit of a local hero." she looked at the man like he was crazy.

"You're not making this very easy to believe." she said turning away from the man. She couldn't believe that she, fresh out of the hell she'd been in for years could come home and what, become some sort of local saint. She had to have lied to them. She had to have been able to hide the darkness a little too well. That's the only way that was possible. That's the only way Oliver would still be her friend.

"I know given what you probably remember of your life before coming home, none of this probably seems real, but it is. You made it real. You didn't let what happened to you keep you from making a life for yourself." she turned back to the man with a quirked brow before taking a step back. "Katie-"

"After what happened to me? What the hell do you know about what happened to me?" she glanced around the room. "Do you work for ARGUS too?" she turned back to the man, suddenly mad at herself for not considering that possibility. She spotted another door that lead outside, and she made a run for it.

"Katie, wait! I don't work for ARGUS!" Oliver called running after her. She stopped and turned back to him. "Everything I know about what happened to you, I know from you." she shook her head.

"And why the hell would I tell you that? I wouldn't tell anyone that."

"At first you didn't. You didn't trust anyone, but over time, I did that thing where I'm always there trying to get you to talk to me, and then you did." Oliver took a step forward to close the distance. And Katie once again saw that weird look on his face again.

"And why should I believe you?" she asked. "Why should I believe anything you've said. That's bit me in the ass before."

"Your dad is an asshole and I'm sorry if that offends you-"

"It doesn't." she mutters.

"I'm sorry you had to wake up like that. For him to lie to you was not supposed to happen. I should've been there."

"You didn't answer my question, Oliver. Why should I believe you?" Oliver looked down to her eyes for a moment, still too afraid to turn away in case this was all some sort of dream or hallucination.

"Because I wouldn't lie to you." he said before reaching forward and taking her hand, now noticing her wedding ring still on her finger. He smiled down to the ring because his wife who can't remember their life together didn't take off her wedding ring for some reason. He looked back up to her eyes. She looked in to his eyes as well, strangely able to just see from that look that those words are true. And then there's a tingly in her stomach she can't ignore anymore. A tingly she's sure she's not supposed to feel for the very married man still holding her hands.

"You shouldn't-" she pulled her hands from him before walking around the man and placing distance between him. "Ok, I believe you but you shouldn't touch me like that, or-" he turned to face with that look on his face. "Or look at me like that. You're married, and-" she looked down to her own hand. "And I'm married, and I doubt either one of them would appreciate the amount of touches and looks happening right now." she frowned as she turned away. "I mean I would assume since I know nothing about these people we've married." she turned back to Oliver who looked slightly amused. "What?"

"Nothing, I just don't think you should worry about my wife being upset, or your husband either." he said and she furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Wait, this isn't like some weird swingers thing, because that would be-" he began laughing again, and she still couldn't see the amusement because here she was totally and completely confused and he was laughing at her. "Hey, don't laugh at me! I don't know what's going on and I just want to understand."

"I'm sorry Twinkie—" ugh, this was going to be a hard habit to quit, Oliver thought. "sorry, Katie. I didn't mean to laugh, but c'mon swingers?" she turned away now seeing the amusement and couldn't stop the smile from curling on her lips.

"Well, give me a better possibility." she said turning back to him and the smile widened on his face. "What?"

"What if I was your husband, and you were my wife?" Oliver asked and this time Katie burst out laughing, because of all the theories tossed around today, that was the most ridiculous.

"Yeah, sure." she said before pushing her way through another door to a new room that looks like a den of some sort. She looks around the room spotting a few stuffed animals in a basket, along with other toys she can't make out. She walks over and plucks out a little plush rabbit and looks down to it. "And let me guess, this belongs to our imaginary children?" she turns back to Oliver who looks at the toy before turning back to her eyes.

"Child. We only have one, and she's not imaginary." Oliver said and Katie looked at him for a moment to see if he's actually telling the truth. "Her name is Robyn, she will actually be one in couple of months. And the day after will be our one year wedding anniversary."

"So you're saying we got married the day after our imaginary daughter was born?" Katie asked and Oliver sighed as he walked over to her as he pulled his phone from his pocket and walked over to her. Katie watch as he pulled out a cell phone that looks quite larger than the phones she remembers. He pressed and swiped a few times before smiling down to whatever he was looking at.

"Yeah, we did." Oliver says before turning to phone to the woman. She held his eyes for a moment before looking down to the screen. It was a picture, and it was of her, Oliver and a small bundle cradled in her arms. Katie took the phone from his hand, analyzing it even more. She was in a hospital bed, Oliver sitting on the edge of the bed beside her as they both looked down to the tiny child in her arms. They were both smiling so wide. Katie dropped into the couch beside her.

"This doesn't make any sense." she says, not able to stop looking at the picture. She was looking at herself. Looking at this extremely important moment, and yet she didn't remember it at all. "I can't remember-"

"Katie-"

"No," she stood to her feet and turned to the man. " I'm Katherine Robins, and you're Oliver Queen and this-" she looked down to the phone once again, pulled into it's fantasy. "This is impossible." she shook her head, before turning and noticing the stairs and so she hurried toward them.

"No, you're Katherine Queen." Oliver said turning to her. She stopped walking, but didn't turn to face him. "And I'm Oliver Queen. And that's a picture of the child we created out of the love we share for each other." she glanced over her shoulder to him. "And I love you so much, it's scary sometimes, but it's beautiful all the time. I know none of this makes sense to you right now, I know you can't remember any of it and it's frustrating, but I'm here to help you through this. You're not alone Twinkie. You will never have to go through this alone." she wasn't quite sure what to say, but then the phone in her hand rang, and she jumped slightly before looking down to it.

"It's someone named Felicity-" Katie says turning and holding out the phone to him. "You should answer it. It could be important."

"Nothing is more important than this moment."

"Oliver, you have a daughter. I hope she's more important, and if she's my daughter, she better be more important than this moment. Take the phone." Oliver sighed before taking the phone and watching as Katie hurried up the stairs.

Oliver quickly answered the phone in annoyance. "Felicity, I told you I would call you back."

"Why call me back, when you can talk to me face to face?" Felicity said sheepishly and Oliver frowned before walking back to the hall and opening the front door to see both Bruce and Felicity standing there. "Hi, I know you said-"

"Why are you here?"

"What do you mean why we're here? My friend is here and I want to make sure she's alright." Felicity said before pushing her way inside the house and looking around. Oliver turned a glare to Bruce who held up his hands. Oliver sighed before moving out of the way to let the man inside. "Where is she?" Oliver turned back to Felicity who was looking around before looking up the stairs. "Is she upstairs?" she began walking up, before Oliver hurried over to stop her.

"Felicity, wait, you can't." he said and Felicity's dark glare turn to him. "Look, I know you want to see her, but I don't think now is the best time."

"And why not?" Felicity asked, and the look that passed over his face told her everything. "Because she doesn't know who I am." Oliver gave a nod, and Felicity dropped her head and turned away.

"Hey-" Bruce walked over to the woman, bringing his arms around her and turned her eyes to him. "It's going to be alright. She's alive, she's safe, and she's here." the woman was still a bit sad at the fact that her best friend didn't even know who she was, but Bruce was right. She's here, and she's safe. They both turned to Oliver who glanced up the steps. "How much have you told her so far?"

"That we're married and have a daughter." Oliver sighed looking back to the couple. "It was a lot and she freaked and ran upstairs before you two got here."

"And did she seem..." Bruce let the question hang in the air, but Oliver knew what he was asking and just shook his head.

"No, it didn't seem like the darkness was there?"

"And are you sure?" Bruce asked, and Oliver huffed and walked away, Bruce right behind him as they walked into the kitchen. "I get it , you want to believe it's gone, but we need to know if it truly is."

"It is." Oliver said turning back to the man. "When I look at her-" Oliver closed his eyes and sighed. "She was standing in front of me, looking at me and I could see her. She was confused, angry, probably scared, but there was no darkness."

"Have you talked to Constantine, or Zatanna?"

"Haven't had a chance to." Oliver replied. His eyes lifted to the ceiling, suddenly nervous about not seeing her. "I should go up to check on her, and I'll tell her that you two are here." Oliver didn't wait for a response, before stalking out of the kitchen, and up the steps. Bruce walked back to the hall where he found Felicity sitting on the steps, and the sadness in her eyes broke his heart.

"Ms. Smoak-" the woman lifted her eyes to the man, and the glint of annoyance made him smile. "It's going to be alright." Felicity stood to her feet and wrapped her arms around Bruce's neck. "She's back."

"I know, it's just-" Felicity sighed. "She lost a huge part of her life. That's unfair, especially after everything she's gone through. She doesn't deserve this."

"I know, but she's going to get through this. And we're going to help her. She may not remember who you are, but that doesn't mean you still can't be her friend."

"I know I just-" Felicity words were cut off from the scream from upstairs. They both turned their heads before Bruce rushed up the steps. Felicity was about to follow.

"Stay, Felicity!" he called his stride never stopping. Once Bruce came to the second floor, he turned down the hall only to stop at the sight of Oliver being pushed from the bedroom, the door slamming in his face. Oliver groaned before turning, finally noticing Bruce. "What happened, we heard screaming."

"That's my fault." Oliver sighed as he walked toward the man. "Everything's fine, I just—I walked into the bedroom, only to realize Twinkie was taking a shower, and I wanted to tell her that you were here, because she knows you and maybe everything wouldn't be as crazy for her. Without thinking, I walked into the bathroom without knocking because I never knock. She screamed because I'm still the guy she only realized was alive a few minutes ago." Oliver walked around the man toward the stairs.

"Oliver-"

"I wasn't thinking." Oliver says actually upset with himself. He stopped and turned back to the man. "I should've known better and I probably only freaked her out more." Oliver shook his head about to turn. "She needs clothes. Yet another thing I didn't think of before bringing her here." Bruce watched as the man stalked down the hall, and down the stairs before turning and glanced over to the bedroom door before walking over. He lifted his fist and knocked.

"I said go away, Oliver!" came the voice from the otherside, and Bruce smiled before lifting his fist and knocking again. "Alright, your funeral you-" she swung open the door, and froze in place because the face she definitely did not expect to see was Bruce Wayne. "Wayne?"

"Hey there, Robins." Bruce said, his eyes transfixed on the woman. He couldn't help but to stare, because he too was one of those people who didn't expect her to wake up from the coma. But here she was, those big brown eyes staring back at him, wearing an over sized robe, her hair completely wet.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked. "You're not supposed to be here! I thought we agreed-"

"To keep our distance to not gain the attention of the demon."

"Exactly!"

"Well we don't have to worry about that anymore, because he's dead. Has been for a while now." Katie's eyes widened at the news, not quite sure of what to say. She silently turned and walked back into the room, dropping down to sit on the bed. "Robins-"

"The demon is dead." she says more to herself than to the man in front of her. "I'm married to Oliver Queen, and we have a daughter." she lifted her eyes to Bruce. "And I get the feeling that's not even half of what I can't remember. What the hell happened to me?" that was a question Bruce was unsure how to answer because he honestly doesn't know.

"I don't know Robins," he took another step forward, his eyes down to her. "But we're going to figure it out." she looked at him for a moment, only now noticing the way he was staring at her. It was like he was looking for something and it was making her uneasy.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what? "

"I don't know, just weird. Oliver was looking at me weird too, but that was a different kind of weird." she dropped her eyes and sighed. "Did I scare him away?"

"Nah, there's nothing you could do to scare that man away." Bruce said and Katie looked back up to him before standing to her feet and walking over to close the distance. "What are you doing?"

"Three and a half years, Bruce." She says looking the man over, seeing the slight changes in his features, and in his build. She noticed a strike of gray hair and reached up the smooth it with her fingers. "You're going gray on me."

"Well most of that is your doing." he says with a smile before reaching up and taking her hand in his. "I was worried about you Robins. I thought-" Bruce always tried to prepare himself for the moment they would get the call that she was gone and he never could. "I thought you were gone."

"Well I kind of am." she replied pulling the large robe tighter around her. "I had this whole life and I can't remember any of it." she looked around the bedroom and let a heavy sigh. "What if I never remember?" she turned back to Bruce. "What if I never get those years back."

"Then you make new memories. You move forward, because that's who you are." Katie looked at the man kind of relieved at the sight of a familiar face and without thinking she tossed her arms around him in a hug that he didn't hesitate to return. "I knew you cared about me."

"Don't flatter yourself. You still annoy me, but I am happy to see you."

"I'm happy to see you too Robins." Bruce said before pulling back from the hug.

"Right, now down to business." Katie says walking over to sit on the bed again before patting the spot beside her. "I need you to tell me everything."

"Everything...as in-"

"My life, what I don't remember. How did me and Oliver happen? When did the demon die? Did I kill him? How much about that part of my life does Oliver know?" she looked up to Bruce. "My dad! Did you know about my dad and the fact that he worked for ARGUS?" she frowned before standing to her feet. "Of course you knew-" she looked over to the man. "You were all buddy, buddy with Rick Flag and Amanda Waller, of course you knew my father was the reason I was even there."

"Robins, that's not completely true, I-"

"Did you know he worked for ARGUS?"

"At the time we ran into each other in Nanda Parbat, no but-"

"What about when you got me out of Arkham?" she asked and Bruce sighed, and she just shook her head because she can't believe she didn't see it before. "You knew!"

"Robins-"

"You need to leave." she says turning away from the man.

"Robins, please if you just listen I will explain everything. You don't know the whole story."

"Really, and what is that?!"

"The fact that you knew your father worked for ARGUS. You found out the truth, and sure you were angry about it, but you got over if. I mean the two of you were never close again like before but you knew. Everyone knew. And I'm sorry, I know you don't remember any of this, but I'm telling you that we've done this already. You upset with me because I knew about Jacob and ARGUS, and you forgave me."

"You're right, I don't remember. Right now I just have how I feel and it sucks, so I'm going to ask you again, to just leave." Bruce stood there for a moment, wanting to explain himself more, but he didn't want to push her. He'd give her time, and so he turned, finally leaving and closing the door behind him. Katie stood there, her eyes on the door, before glancing around the room. "I need to get the hell out of this place."

Oliver and Felicity turned as Bruce came down the stairs, and from the look on his face, they knew the reunion wasn't a happy one.

"How did it go?" Felicity asked, and Bruce turned to her.

"At first we were good, and then the subject of Jacob came up and the fact that I knew he worked for ARGUS, and she got upset and kicked me out." Bruce glance over to Oliver who shook his head. "Oliver-"

"I'm screwing this up." Oliver said turning to Bruce. "I wanted her back so bad, and then I got her and I brought her here. I thought-" Oliver turned away, his eyes going to those stairs. "This is a lot for someone who doesn't remember their life."

"Oliver, you're right, it is a lot." Felicity said taking a step toward the man and he turned back to her. "But you and I both know that if anyone can navigate their way through this, it's that woman you married whose upstairs right now. She's here, and it's time you do that thing you do that thing you always do."

"Felicity, I told you I don't do anything with my eyes." Oliver huffed in annoyance, and Felicity chuckled.

"No, what I was going to say, is that you be there for her just like you always do. That's what she needs. Let her know that you're here." Felicity turned to Bruce, a slight look of disappointment in his eyes, letting her know the exchange between he and Katie really did affect him. "Bruce and I will get her clothes-" the man turned to her and she gave a nod before turning back to Oliver. "You broke down those walls before Oliver, you just have to find out a way to do it again."

"Felicity, I know you wanted to see her." Oliver said and the woman glanced over to the stairs in hopes that her friend would suddenly appear.

"And I will." Felicity turned back to Oliver. "I will, but right now I have to let you do that thing you do." Felicity took Bruce's hand and pulled him with her out the door. She began walking toward the car, but Bruce pulled her back to him. "I'm fine." she said instantly. "This needs to happen."

"I know, but I know it sucks." he slid a hand behind her back, his eyes on hers before glancing up and looking around the quiet suburban neighborhood. "This looks like a pretty nice place. Why did they leave?" Felicity turned in Bruce's arms to look out to the neighborhood as well.

"It was a fantasy they couldn't hold on to." Felicity sighed with a shake of her head before turning back to Bruce. "C'mon, let's go spend your money." Felicity grabbed Bruce's hand and tugged him toward the car.

Oliver hesitated outside of Katie's door. He was nervous. Scared even. He loved the woman on the other side of that door so much and he was scared to death that him screwing this up could cause him to lose her.

"You sulk loudly!" she called. "Just get in here, Oliver." the man let out a sigh before pushing open the door and walking inside. He glanced around the room before spotting the doors to the closet open. He walked over to find Katie sitting on the floor as she dug in boxes he wasn't aware were even in here. "You know I found it hard to believe I even lived here when there isn't even a stitch of clothing here that belonged to me. Then I discovered these and-" with a furrowed brow she reached into a box and pulled out a dress that looked too big for her. "Either these aren't my clothes, or-"

"Those were your maternity clothes."Oliver said with a smile before crouching down beside her and looking into the box. "The movers must've missed these." she looked up to the man who continued to dig around the box and even now, in this moment she just couldn't believe it. He was her husband. Oliver Queen was her husband, and she couldn't even fathom a world where that was possible and yet here she was. He felt her eyes on him, and turned to her to see her eyes on him. "About earlier, I'm sorry, I should've knocked and-"

"Oliver it's fine." Katie said standing to her feet and walking back into the bedroom. "I probably shouldn't have freaked out as much as I did. I mean you've probably seen me naked a couple of times." she turned to the man who dropped his eyes and cleared his throat.

"Yeah," he replied glancing up to meet her examining gaze. "A couple." he once again dropped his eyes, and Katie couldn't help but smile. He was flustered, and it was a look she hadn't seen often with the man. "So Bruce and Felicity went to get you some clothes and anything else you might need."

"Felicity?" the woman asked and Oliver looked over to her and smiled with a nod.

"She's our friend. Really good friend. You and her are very close." Oliver replied and Katie looked at him for a moment before simply giving a nod before turning and climbing on the bed. "She's also Bruce's girlfriend." the woman gave a snort.

"Bruce has a girlfriend, and she and I are really good friends." she looked over to Oliver and just shrugged. "This is crazy." she closed her eyes and dropped back on the bed.

"Hey," Oliver walked over and sat down on the bed beside her. "Talk to me." she opened her eyes and looked over to the man with a furrowed brow. "What?"

"That!" she said pointing to the man before standing to her feet and taking a few steps away. "I have memories of Oliver Queen and he didn't say things like that. He use to climb through my window with some stupid lines about having nothing else to do but hang out with me, but he didn't say things like that." she watched as Oliver stood to his feet and walked over to her, but she took another step back. "I remember Oliver Queen, and he ran from moments like this one." he stood there staring at her with that look that caused that familiar flutter in her stomach. "He didn't do that either. Look at me like-"

"Like I'm over the moon in love with you." he replied, taking another step forward, and she took a slight step back. "Do you want to know something I've never told you before."

"To be honest, nothing you've told me I've heard before." she replied and the smile on his face widen, and that fluttering only got worse.

"I never climbed in your window because I had nothing better to do. That's just something I would tell you instead of the truth."

"And what was the truth?"

"When I would see you in the hall at school, it always made me sick that I couldn't find it in myself to ever just walk over to you, and just talk to you. I just had to walk past you as if you weren't there. And sometimes I would see you talking about something so animatedly, or you were laughing so hard at something and I always wanted to know why. So in those moments, I knew I would be climbing into your bedroom window." The man in front of her couldn't be real. He looked like the old Oliver, but everything else was just different. She swallowed the thick emotion suddenly settling in her throat before turning away from his eyes that were too intense. "Twinkie, I know I'm not the Oliver you remember. That guy was an idiot." she turned back to him. "That guy had you standing right in front of him and he didn't tell you how he felt about you." With one final step, Oliver found himself standing right in front of her, and this time she didn't back away. "The man standing in front of you couldn't hide from it any longer, even though I tried."

"What do you mean you tried?" she asked and he lightly laughed. "What?"

"How would you like to hear our story?" she looked at him for a moment, both curious and scared. She wasn't sure she was prepared for more earth shattering information. They stood there for a moment in silence, unintentionally moving in closer to each other. Katie realized what she was doing, letting out a deep breath before walking around the man and climbing back to sit on the bed.

"I want to hear it." she said and Oliver turned back to her. "Uh, but I'm not sure I should." Oliver frowned as he walked over to sit beside her. "I saw this doctor and-" she turned away and shook her head. "I'm not even sure he was a real doctor. He was probably just another ARGUS fraud and-" she sighed turning back to Oliver realizing she was about to go off on another angry rant. "What he said about dissociative amnesia is true. I have to be careful with the information I learn because I don't know if it could trigger some sort of mental breakdown, I mean I don't even know why I can't remember my life and that scares the crap out of me." she turned to Oliver. "What was so bad that happened to me, that I'm blocking it from myself?"

"Hey Twinkie," Oliver slipped his hands to cup her face, letting his thumbs brush across her cheek. "You will get through this and I will be here to help you, every step of the way." he smiled down to her eyes. "And I can definitely say that our story isn't a trigger for anything."

"You sound confident, and stop calling me Twinkie." she said with a slight smile, and he was going to do it. He was going to kiss her, but a voice in his head screamed, because he knew he couldn't right now. Not yet, and so he dropped his hands and backed away a bit. She cleared her throat and once again turned away. "Ok-" she slid back to sit in the center of the bed before turning to face him. "I'm going to trust you. I'm not sure why, but I'm going to trust that your story will not cause me to go crazy. More because I'm really interested in learning how this happened." she tilted her head and he smiled at her. "Now go on, tell me this fairy tale of how Oliver Queen and Katherine Robins got married and had a baby."

"Well I should start by saying that it's the farthest thing from a fairy-tale." he said with a smile as he slid further into the bed. "It started with me chasing you on the front lawn of my old house." she quirked a brow and he chuckled about to continue, but his phone rang and he frowned before pulling it from his pocket and glancing down to the screen.

"Everything alright?" Katie asked and Oliver looked up to her and smiled with a nod. It was Curtis, and he was almost positive the topic the man wanted to talk about was a subject he wasn't sure he should bring up to his wife just yet.

"Yeah, just work." he said standing to his feet and heading for the door.

"Wait," she said and he stopped and turned back to her. "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm-" he wasn't sure why he paused. He remembers Katie rallying with him to become mayor and he always imagined how happy she would be when she found out that they did it. "I'm the mayor of Star City." Katie's eyes widened as she slid to stand to her feet.

"I'm sorry, did you just say that you're the mayor of Star City?"

"Yes."

"People voted for you?"

"Yes," he says not missing the disbelief in her tone. His phone rang again, and he turned back to her. "I really have to take this, I'll be right back." Oliver turned and stepped out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him. "Curtis, I thought I told you that I would be unreachable. I found Katie and-"

"And I get that, and I'm so sorry about calling but we have a problem. Those emails I've been monitoring. I have chatter of Machin meeting with a possible selller of the materials he's going to need for this bomb. Someone needs to be there or-"

"Machin will be that much closer to building a bomb and planting it somewhere in the city." Oliver said, his eyes turning back to the bedroom for. This house, in this suburb of Coast City once again made him forget the reality of their lives. He let out a sigh. "I'll meet you at the bunker." Oliver ended the call, before once again finding himself hesitating outside the bedroom door. He knew he needed to leave. There was a crazy person roaming around the city trying to make a bomb and because all of his friends abandoned him, it was him who had to stop it. He had to once again choose being the other guy instead of the husband to the woman on the other side of their door. He pushed open the door to find Katie sitting on the edge of the bed, her eyes meeting his.

"Ok, just for my own peace of mind, " she says standing to her feet and walking over to him. "When you say Mayor, you actually mean the political figure whose job it is to make decisions for the betterment of the city?" he looked at her and smiled with a shake of his head.

"Is it that hard to believe that I could be the mayor?"

"I mean, no, I've always believed you could be anything you wanted, I just find it hard to believe that you'd actually want this." she replied once again locking eyes with the man. This new Oliver was getting harder and harder to believe and without thinking she reached forward and place a hand on his chest. It wasn't until she felt the thump of his heart underneath her fingers did she truly believe that this was real, and that Oliver was standing right here in front of her. His hand lifted, and covered the hand she had on his chest.

"I'm right here, Twinkie." he replied and he saw the annoyed look on her face. "You actually like that name now." she pulled back her hand and turned walking away.

"No, she did." Katie replied. "The woman you know, but I can't remember being her." she turned back to the man. "For right now, just call me Katie, ok?" Oliver simply gave her a nod. "And now you have to go." his brow furrowed in confusion.

"How did you know?" he asked and she looked at him for a moment before her face too scrunched in confusion.

"I don't know, really. You have a look about you that I can somehow tell means you're not happy and I can only assume the only thing that would make you unhappy right now is having to leave." she turned away for a moment still unable to figure out how she came to that conclusion. She turned back to Oliver, his eyes completely focused on her with a look she couldn't decipher. "So, work?" he dropped his eyes back to his phone before looking back up to her.

"Yeah, it's something only I can take care of." he replied taking a step toward her. "You could tell me to stay."

"Why would I do that?" she asked, now suddenly gaining the urge to reach forward to grab him and never let go.

"I don't know, but I want you to know that whenever you need me. Whenever you need me more than whatever is happening out there, I need you to know that I will stay, every time." Katie folded her arms over her chest, and he could tell from the look on her face that she was thinking about something, he just couldn't figure out what.

"You're my husband?" she asked because for the life of her, that single fact wasn't sticking. Everything else he's told her, she could believe, even the baby, but him marrying her seemed so far fetched. Oliver let out a sigh, before closing the distance between them, and taking both of her hands in his. Her eyes widen, not expecting the sudden contact, but she didn't pull away.

"I am your husband, and you are my beautiful wife." he placed a kiss on the back of both of her hands before lifting his eyes to hers. "You are not alone in any of this." he turned his head at the sound of the front door opening, figuring the Bruce and Felicity must be back. He turned back to Katie, staring at her silently, before once again speaking. "You want to run-" she frowned before turning away, unsure how he knew that. He actually interrupted her escape plan. She was going to find some clothes and sneak out the window before anyone noticed."I know this is all scary, and confusing and running away seems like the easiest solution." she turned back to meet his eyes. "Just stay. You've been running all of your life, and you ended up here with me. At least stick around to figure out why you stayed." he leaned forward, placing a kiss to her cheek, before reluctantly releasing her hands and walking toward the door.

"If I told you to stay, you would?" she suddenly asked, and Oliver smiled slightly, because with every passing moment, remnants of his wife appeared. He stopped and turned back to her.

"Absolutely." he replied, and she looked at him and from the look in his eyes she knew he was telling the truth. "Do you want to tell me to stay?"

"Yes," she said against her better judgment. Everything was still too unfamiliar and yet familiar at the same time. "But I won't." she dropped her eyes and turned away. "You should go." she turned back to the man with a nod. "I'll be fine." he looked at her for a moment before giving her a nod and turning to leave.

When Oliver arrived downstairs he didn't expect the number of shopping bags that now lined the floor.

"You weren't even gone that long, how did you-" he looked over to Felicity who was standing in the middle of the bags, as Bruce carried them inside.

"I think that's the last of it." Bruce said turning to Oliver who had a look of disbelief. "Did you underestimate Felicity Smoak when it comes to shopping?"

"Never again." Oliver said glancing over to Felicity. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." the woman said glancing over to the stairs. "How is she?"

"She's-" Oliver slightly smiled as he thought about the few moments he'd just spent with his wife and that feeling that even though she didn't remember so much, she was still there. "I think she's passed the wanting to flee stage at this point." he turned back to Felicity who gave. "I actually have to go." the woman frowned glancing over to Bruce before turning back to Oliver.

"I sort of assumed priority wise, your wife awakening from a coma trumps whatever mayoral duties you may have." Felicity folded her arms over her chest and Oliver sighed.

"This isn't about being Mayor," Oliver replied glancing over to Bruce. "Lonnie Machin is back, and we think he's building a bomb."

"Oh," Felicity said now feeling guilty about her instant judgement. "But even so-" Oliver turned back to woman who pointed upstairs. "She's awake Oliver. We spent months waiting-"

"Felicity, I'm the last person you have explain that to, because that's my wife, and I sat at her bedside scared to death that she wouldn't open her eyes again." Oliver dropped his head before once again glancing over to the steps. The last thing he wanted to do right now was leave her. He doesn't even know how he's been breathing for so long without seeing those eyes or hearing her voice. He wanted nothing more than to barricade them in that bedroom and never come out. But there was a man with a bomb and he promised this city he would protect them. It's a choice he hated, but he knew in his heart what his wife would tell him to do if she remembered who they were. He turned back to Felicity and gave a nod. "It's only me. Everyone left and now it's my job to make sure people like Lonnie Machin don't hurt my city. I have to go."

"How about I go." Bruce volunteered and Oliver turned to the man who shrugged. "I mean you're right, you've been flying solo for months, you could use some time off to deal with more important things." Oliver turned away for a moment before shaking his head.

"No thanks, Bruce." Oliver said simply before turning back to the man. "I will probably be back late, but call me if she needs me. I'm going to check on the kids, but then I'll be right back." He glanced up to the ceiling. "I should probably get her phone."

"No need, we got one." Felicity replied. Oliver glanced over to her with a smile and a nod. "Are you sure you—"

"I should go." Oliver slipped his phone into his pocket before moving around Bruce out the door. Bruce glanced over to Felicity noting the look of guilt on her face and so he groaned before turning and following after Oliver.

"You're not going to make us feel guilty for leaving!" Bruce called after the man. Oliver had only opened the door before he stopped and glanced back to the man.

"I wasn't trying to make you feel guilty, Bruce." Oliver replied with a shake of his head. He was about to get into the car, but for the life of him he just couldn't and so he turned back to the man. "I understand why you left, but it doesn't change the fact that I was here, raising two kids, being the mayor and sitting at the bedside of my comatose wife afraid I was going to lose her." Oliver slammed the door closed before turning to the man fully. "And on top of that, I also had to be the person to keep Star City safe. So maybe I am harboring some resentment because all of my friends left when I needed them." the man let out a huff unsure why he's revealing so many emotions he thought he had a cap on. He just shook his head before sliding a hand across his face before looking back up to Bruce. "I'm sorry, I just-" Oliver's eyes glanced up to the upstairs window, seeing the glow from the light inside. She was right there, and he didn't realize until this moment how hard leaving would be until he was standing right next to this car.

"Hey," Bruce walked over closer, "I get it. This is all a lot, but we're here now. And I can help."

"Bruce-"

"Fine, I'll just be back up." Oliver turned away and Bruce waited for him to respond. He knew Oliver's head was completely unfocused right now and going out there alone probably wasn't the best idea. Especially with a crazy person building a bomb. Oliver turned back to the man, figuring is lack of focus too and simply gave a nod. "Good, I'm going to go tell Felicity and then I'll meet you at the bunker."

Jacob Robins sat in his dimlit office in a much need silence. That silence was broken by the sound of the door opening and Martin walking inside.

"Sir-" Martin stepped further inside as Jacob turned to him. "We have confirmation. Oliver has taken her to their Coast City home. We have a few men in the area keeping watch."

"Pull them." Jacob said simply and Martin looked to his boss in confusion.

"Sir-"

"Martin, Ra's is gone, and so is Damien Darhk. All the threats to her are gone. Right now my daughter just needs the love and comfort of her husband to get past her memory loss."

"Sir, we're also unsure if the entity that lived inside of her and tried to wipe out all human existence is still inside of her." Martin walked over to take a seat on the other side of the desk. "I know after what happened-"

"I was foolish in thinking that I could have her again." Jacob glanced over to Martin with a shake of his head. "That I could have my daughter back and that look of hatred and betrayal wouldn't be in her eyes when she looked at me. I lied again, foolish enough to believe it wouldn't bite me in the ass again and now she will hate me forever."

"Except she's never hated you." Martin replied. "She's been angry with you, she's shot you and hit you, but she's never hated you. She will get past this, and one day you will have your daughter again." Martin stood to his feet. "Sir, I really believe the security detail would be—"

"Fine, they can stay, but they make no contact unless necessary, and you make that call." Jacob says pointing to Martin who gave a nod before turning and heading back for the door. "This will be done soon, Martin." Martin stopped and turned back to his boss. "Once we confirm my daughter's safety, then this is all over. Our job will be done." Martin silently nodded before finally leaving.

Jacob glanced over to the old picture that sat on his desk of his wife and daughter, both smiling and he reached forward to pick it up.

"I think I did it Grace. She's safe." Jacob sighed before placing the picture back on his desk and standing to his feet. He walked toward the door, only to stop at the sound of something breaking. He turned to see the picture on his desk now laying flat. He walked over, picking it up to see the cracked glass, that seemed to be solely located around his daughter's face. An unexplainable breeze touched his neck and Jacob turned, but he saw nothing in the darkness.

Thea was glad she had a bit of a distraction as she placed a sleeping Robyn in her crib. The baby was fed, bathed and they even played a bit to tucker her out, and now she was out like a light. Thea smiled down to the child.

"Your mommy is back." she whispered before quietly leaving the room. She walked down the hall, peeking into Ari's room to find the girl's eyes barely opened as she types away on her laptop. "I know for a fact, you're not supposed to have that. I thought Oliver took that."

"He took my much faster, newer laptop." Ari said as she continued to type. "I was compiling pictures for Katie when-" the girl groaned as she slapped a fist on the keyboard before slamming the screen shut. "Felicity Smoak has turned into my nemesis and I will beat her."

"What are you talking about?" Thea asked and Ari looked over to the woman and just shook her head before standing to her feet and holding out a flash drive.

"I have the pictures, when do we leave?"

"Leave?"

"To see my cousin." Ari said and Thea sighed which was a sign that the teen didn't like. "I want to see her."

"I know you do, but right now we can't. There's a media circus outside the house, and Katie's—" Thea averted her eyes still sad about Katie's memory loss.

"She doesn't remember the last couple of years of her life, I know, but she knows who I am." Ari said and Thea turned back to her.

"I'm sorry Ari, but we can't leave this house. Not until Oliver gets back." Ari groaned before turning back and sliding back to her bed. "And I have to take that. You know you're not supposed to have it and—" Ari simply held out the laptop to the woman without argument.

"It's useless anyway. Just take it and get out." Ari replied. Thea knew the girl was hurting, but she also knew there was nothing she could do or say that could help, and so she took the laptop and left.

Felicity had no idea why she was so nervous. Bruce and Oliver had been gone for a while and she finally worked up the courage to gather a few shopping bags and come upstairs. She stopped in front of the closed bedroom door, now hesitant to knock. She couldn't stop thinking about her best friend who was on the other side of the door who had no clue about who she was.

"You can do this." Felicity muttered before maneuvering the bags to one hand and reaching up with the other to knock. Soon the door pulled open, and Felicity couldn't help the smile that came to her face. She felt sudden tears prickle her eyes and she knew she must've looked completely insane to the woman standing in front of her.

"Um, hello," Katie greeted with an awkward wave. She tightened the large robe around her before glancing down to the bags. "Are those for me?" the blonde didn't answer and so Katie looked back up to the woman who silently smiled, her eyes slightly glistening. "Are you ok?" Felicity brought herself back to reality, clearing her throat and holding up the bags.

"Yes, Oliver said you needed clothes and so Bruce and I went to this nice little clothing store not to far from here. They have everything you could thing of. Shirts, tank tops, jeans, skirts-" she looked back up to Katie. "I really wasn't sure what you preferred so I picked out a little bit of everything, in all different colors. I mean you usually like dark clothing, but maybe the new amnesiac you likes bright colors, so I got-"

"Whoa! Wait, you're talking really fast and I think we should start with something simple." Katie says holding out her hand to the woman. "I'm Katherine Robins, and you are—" Felicity laughed before reaching forward and shaking the woman's hand.

"I'm Felicity Smoak,"

"Felicity, right, Oliver told me you were Bruce's girlfriend." Katie replied and Felicity's confusion turned to annoyance.

"Well yeah, I am Bruce's girlfriend, but I was kind of you and Oliver's friend first." Felicity clarified releasing Katie's hand before walking inside and dropping the bags on the bed. "And him not making that distinction only verifies my suspicions that he really is upset with us." Felicity began pulling the clothes out of the bag and placing them on the bed. She looked over to Katie who still stood by the door, her head tilted as she looks over to the blonde. "He and Bruce left, so I thought I would come up here, give you your clothes and maybe introduce myself...again."

"Right, so we've met at some point in the last three and half years?" Katie asked, and Felicity nodded. Katie looked at the woman for a moment, trying to grasp at just glimmer of familiarity and yet there was nothing. She turned away in frustration, hating moments like this. Reminders that something stole her life and she doesn't even know why. "I'm sorry, I don't—"

"Hey, you don't have to apologize." Felicity walked over to the woman with a smile. "I can only imagine what you're going through right now. So we can take this slow. Why don't you pick out something to wear, and I will see how much longer that pizza I ordered will be." Felicity walked around the woman toward the door.

"Felicity—" the blonde stopped and turned back to the woman who finally returned the smile. "Thanks—" she gestured to the clothes before turning back to the woman. "For all of this."

"You really never have to thank me." Felicity replied.

It didn't take long for their pizza to arrive. Felicity had just brought it into the house and headed for the kitchen where she placed it on the table. She hurried about to get some plates and glasses for the wine she's pretty sure Katie could use at the moment. She'd only placed them on the table when a knock at the back door stopped her. She turned in confusion. Oliver and Bruce had been gone for almost an hour and she didn't expect them back this soon, and definitely didn't expect them to knock. She walked toward the door, peeking through the curtain, before letting out a sigh at the unexpected guest. She pulled open the door with a shake of her head.

"You shouldn't be here, Nyssa." Felicity greeted, though the ravened haired woman in front of her seemed unfazed as she glanced inside of the house.

"So it's true?" Nyssa said dropping her eyes back to Felicity. "Nura is awake." Felicity saw that light of hope she's sure matched the one in her own eyes.

"Yes, she's—"

"Nyssa," a voice spoke and both turned to see Katie whose dark glared bore into the woman standing just a couple of feet away. Katie felt her heart race, as fears she didn't expect suddenly began moving under her skin. That survival instinct kicked into overdrive. Her eyes darted around the kitchen, spotting a butcher's block and without hesitation she rushed forward, grabbing a knife.

"Katie, just wait, just—" Felicity's pleas fell upon deaf ears because before she could get a full sentence out of her mouth, Katie was running toward them. The blonde practically stumbled backwards as Katie tackled Nyssa out the door. Felicity quickly ran out the door in time to see Katie straddled on top of Nyssa, the blade of the butcher's knife now pressed to her throat.

"I'm not going back!" Katie yelled pressing the knife even deeper. "I will kill you before I go back!


	4. Welcome Home

**Chapter 4**

**Welcome Home**

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered."

_Nelson Mandela_

* * *

That tricky bastard, Machin got away. Oliver stalked into the bunker, where he returned his bow and quiver to their stand.

"Hey, man, I'm sorry, I tried searching for him using the aerial map, but it's like he just disappeared." Curtis says walking over.

"It's fine Curtis, just make sure those facial recons are still running—" he stopped and turned to the man. "And you should go home, it's late."

"Ok," Curtis was about to turn, but he stopped and looked back to Oliver. "Hey, I've been meaning ask, how is the missus?" Oliver turned away and Curtis suddenly realized that probably wasn't the best question to ask at the moment. "You know what, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked and-" Curtis turned to leave. "I should go."

"Curtis," Curtis stopped and turned back to Oliver. "She's ok. She still doesn't remember anything from the past couple of years, but I think she's still in there. Thanks' for asking." Curtis simply gave a nod before turning and heading for the elevator. Once he was gone, Oliver turned, his eyes looking over to the Guardian's suit, suddenly dreading the conversation he's going to have with his wife to explain all of this.

Oliver turned at the heavy footsteps, to see Bruce stalking inside, pulling the cowl from his head and tossing it on the table.

"I'm going to take a sick pleasure of beating the shit out of that bastard when we find him." Bruce said looking over to Oliver.

"Well until then, Curtis still has the computers searching for him, so hopefully we'll have something soon. I'm going to get changed and head to the house. Thea said there are still reporters crowded out front, so I need to deal with that and check in with Robyn and Ari before I head back to Coast City. You can go on ahead if you want." Oliver turned about to get changed when Bruce stopped him.

"I'm sorry," Oliver stopped at those words, turning a confused look to the man. "You're right, we left and-"

"Bruce, stop-"

"No, just listen. I'm not apologizing for leaving. I stand behind that one hundred percent because it's what I needed, and it's what Felicity needed. Look I'm apologizing for leaving when we did. You were right, a lot was happening, we could've left at a better time."

"Seriously Bruce, I get it. When we found out Katie was pregnant with Robyn, I didn't think twice about leaving Starling. It's what we needed and nothing or no one else mattered." Oliver turned away with a shake of his head. "I guess I'm just seeing what it's like to be on the other end and I can be alright with it." and with that Oliver turned to get changed.

Oliver was sure that at this time of night, the house should be quiet. He'd only turned the corner, his eyes widening at the sight of bright lamps, and news vans lined up along the block as reporters camped out in front of his house. Oliver let out a groan the moment he neared the house. When reporters finally spotted him, they suddenly crowded around.

Once he stepped out of the car, he saw Hank and Steve sift through the crowd, but Oliver simply held up a hand to stop them.

"Mayor Queen, how long has you wife been out of her coma?!"

"Where is Mrs. Queen right now?!"

"What happened at the train station?!"

Each question came one after the other, and he expected them. Oliver moved away from his car, further onto the sidewalk so they all could see him.

"You all have a lot of questions, and I completely understand your curiosity and concern which I will address at a later time in a more appropriate setting." Oliver glanced over to the house, catching a glimpse of someone in the house peaking through the curtains. He turned his eyes back to the reporters, all either holding a camera aimed at him, or a microphone. "What I will say now is that yes, my wife is awake and she is recovering." the man dropped his head and let out a heavy sigh before looking to the eyes on him. "My wife has waken up with a mild case of amnesia, which lead to the incident that occurred today at Star City Rail. Right now my only concern is getting her the care she needs while also making sure my kids are safe and I don't think that happens with a crowd of people hanging out on our lawn. Look, I know you all want a story, but this is my home, and I would very much appreciate if you all respected our privacy and let us get through this on our own. I know this city cares for us, cares for the health of my wife, and I promise you I will keep you updated on how her recovery is progressing." Oliver paused for a moment before giving a nod. "Now it's late, and I'm sure you all have families you all should be getting to. You and your affiliations will receive notice on that upcoming press conference. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to get to my family." the reporters all parted to allow the man inside his home. When he walked in, he glanced over in to the living room where he saw Thea standing near the window.

"Looks like they're clearing out." Thea said turning to her brother. "Must've been one hell of a speech."

"Thea, I'm sorry it took me so long to get back, I was with Twinkie trying just to talk to her and explain what was happening, then we got a lead on Machin." Oliver shook his head before glancing up the stairs. "Are they sleep?"

"Robyn is, but Ari is well a very angry teenager." Thea replied, and Oliver turned back to her, seeing a hint of anger in her as well. "Can't say I blame her." Oliver watched as his sister turned off, and walked into the kitchen and he followed behind her.

"Speedy-"

"I just, I know I'm not supposed to be angry with you right now, but I just can't help it." she turned back to her brother. "You took her to Coast City. Why? Why not bring her home?"

"Because she doesn't remember this home? Look I've never had a wife with amnesia, so I'm doing the best that I can. Thea, I didn't want to overwhelm her with all of this. I wanted to prepare her for the moment she walked into this house and she saw a baby that's starting to look like her everyday, or to see a cousin whose now a teenager." Thea turned away and Oliver sighed. "Thea-"

"How is she?" Thea asked leaning against the kitchen counter and looking at the hanging basket of fruit.

"As expected. She's confused, has a lot of questions, but she seems to be taking everything alright."

"What have you told her so far?" Thea asked finally turning back to her brother.

"Well, I told her about us being married which she really didn't believe at first." Oliver said and Thea smiled with a snort. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just I guess that makes sense, seeing as three and half years ago the two of you weren't in the same orbit. And before that were the shitty high school years, so I get it."

"Yeah, well I told her about Robyn, and that's as far as I got. I think she's still trying to take it all in. I was actually about to talk to her some more before Curtis called. I was going to head back after I checked on the kids." Thea frowned, turning away. "Thea—"

"Ollie, I know you're doing what you think is right," Thea turned back to him. "But how does this work? You still have two kids here, and I'm happy to help out, but I'm sure there are fires waiting for me at city hall that I'm going to have to take care of at some point." Oliver turned away, letting his back drop back against the counter. "You're going to have to bring her home."

"I know." Oliver sighed. "It's just I've lived five months in this life with her just being in that hospital room I would visit, and now she's back and the world knows it and I just-"

"You wanted to keep her to yourself for a little while longer." Thea said and Oliver sighed which she took as his agreement. "She's stronger than you're giving her credit for. She can handle all of this. And sure it will be scary, and probably unbelievable, but she will handle it and hey, maybe along the way she'll start remembering who she was."

"And what if she remembers how she ended up in that coma?" Oliver asked, looking over to his sister. "What if she remembers what she almost did?" Thea turned away and let out a sigh of her own.

"Well then she'll get through that as well. Now go-" she nudged his shoulder. "Go see your kids." Oliver pressed a kiss to Thea's head before turning and heading up the stairs. His first stop he figured would be his easiest. He pushed open the door to the nursery, where he surprisingly found his daughter standing up in her crib. It amazed him everyday how quickly she was growing up.

"Dah, dah." she began bouncing up and down when Oliver came over to scoop her in his arms causing her to giggle in excitement.

"Hi sweetie," Oliver pressed a kiss to her head as he hugged her close to his chest, and he felt her head fall to his shoulder. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner." he gently bounced her in his arms as he rubbed her back. She let out tiny yawn as she closed her eyes. "I don't know if you've heard the good news, but mommy's back. She came back to us and I'm going to bring her to see you really soon." she was sleeping, but he wanted to hold her a bit longer. Oliver walked over, and carefully lowered himself to sit in the rocking chair near the window. He closed his eyes, as he continued rubbing his daughter's back, rocking back and forth.

The silence was comforting, and peaceful. Oliver wasn't asleep, but he felt as if he were pretty close. He didn't realize his own exhaustion.

"Ollie?" Thea's voice whispered, and Oliver's eyes snapped open to see his sister hurrying over. "We have a problem."

Felicity wasn't quite sure what she should do. She cautiously took a step forward.

"Katie, you can't do this." Felicity said, but it was as if Katie couldn't even hear her.

"What is this?" Katie growled pushing the knife against Nyssa's throat. "Your father is dead, and now you're here for payback?!"

"What are you talking about? I'm here to see you, to make sure you were truly alright." Nyssa said staring up to the dark eyes of her cousin. She knew she could free herself, could get out of this situation easily, but something was wrong. Katie looked down to the woman in confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about? What—"

"Katie, stop!" that voice yelled from the other side of the yard, and it was enough for Katie to finally lift her head, her eyes going wide at the red haired teenager who quickly ran over.

"Ari, what are you doing here?" Felicity asked glancing from the teenager to Katie who couldn't tear her eyes away from her young cousin.

"Katie, you have to stop." Ari dropped to her knees beside Katie, tossing her arms around her, hugging her tightly as she began sobbing. Katie wasn't sure what was happening, but the knife in her hand slipped to the ground as she brought her arms around the teenager.

"Arianna?" Katie whispered completely confused as she held the girl.

When Bruce arrived, he found Felicity nervously pacing. The moment he walked in, she stopped and hurried over.

"It's about damn time." The woman said, glancing up the stairs. "I think we have a serious problem." she turned back to Bruce.

"Where's Nyssa?" Bruce asked.

"I have no idea. When Ari showed up, Katie brought her back inside, just leaving Nyssa outside." Felicity said glancing back up to the stairs. "She almost did it though. She almost killed Nyssa right in the backyard." Felicity turned back to Bruce who who let out a sigh as he turned back to the woman. "Now she and Ari are up there, and she's probably learning why her young cousin just stopped her. She could be learning the truth about Ra's and who he is to her."

"Have you talked to Oliver?"

"Yeah, he and Thea are on their way." Felicity replied turning back to the stairs. "Should we—"

"I don't think we should. If she is learning the truth, she's not going to be happy with anyone who didn't tell her sooner."

Ari sat cross legged on the bed, looking over to her cousin who stood looking out the window. She still couldn't believe it. For so long she'd been so afraid that she'd never have this moment.

"So Nyssa is my—" Katie cleared her throat. Only moments earlier did Ari reveal something that no one in this house had told her. She turned to the girl before walking over and taking a seat across from her. "My cousin. Her father, my uncle?" Ari turned away, now feeling slightly unsure if she should've revealed the information. She knew she didn't know the complete story of Nyssa and Katie. All she knew was that Nyssa was nice to her, and looked out for her and she assumed she did the same for Katie. "Ari?"

"Oliver hasn't told you any of this?" Ari asked turning back to her cousin.

"No he hasn't." Katie says turning away. "Ra's is my mother's brother." Katie once again stood to her feet and walked over to the window. She closed her eyes, suddenly struck with memory after memory of her time with the demon. He was a monster, and now she's being told that his blood runs through her veins.

"Katie,"

"Ari, it's late." Katie says turning back to the girl and sighs. She was so big. She thinks about the little girl she remembers and now in the years she's missed a young woman has taken her place. "I should call your mom or dad. They're probably worried about you." Ari frowned, and Katie stopped unsure if she'd said something wrong. "What's wrong?"

"Katie, I don't live with my parents. I live with you and Oliver." Katie stared in more confusion before she walked over and took a seat across from the teenager. "My dad is dead, and my mom is in prison." Katie's eyes widen as she turns away from the teen's eyes. "You took me in because you were the only one I had left." Ari sighed before once again leaning forward and tossing her arms Katie in a hug. "I thought you were gone." Katie simply hugged her back. She wasn't sure of much of anything right now, and she hated how much of her own life she didn't know about.

"Ari I'm so sorry about your parents,"

Oliver walked in the house, his eyes glancing to the steps. He turned at the sound of footsteps to see Bruce and Felicity walking in. He'd gotten the call earlier about Nyssa, and Ari showing up and he had no idea what he would be walking into. He glanced back to Thea who pushed in a sleeping Robyn in her stroller. His eyes looked back over to Bruce.

"Nyssa?" he asked.

"No idea, but I don't think she's gotten too far." Bruce said standing to his feet. "I'm going to go out and try to find her." Oliver glanced over to the man with a quirked brow. "Don't worry, I'll keep it cool." Oliver just shook his head before turning to his sister.

"I'm going to go up there and see how she's doing. Can you take Robyn up to the nursery?" Oliver asked and Thea just nodded.

Oliver soon found himself in the familiar spot outside their bedroom door, where he was once again hesitating. They were in a good place when he left and now he's not sure where they were. He lifted a fist to knock, but the door opened before he could. His eyes looked down to see Ari, who looked nervous. Oliver let out a heavy sigh as the girl backed up into the room.

"Arianna Louise Locke," Oliver said, his eyes piercing the teenager who continued to back away. Ari's eyes went wide at the man's use of her full name which he never did. She knew she was in trouble now. "Do you have absolutely any idea how in trouble you are right now?"

"I know I screwed up, but-"

"How did you even know she was here?"

"I tracked your call, but that's now the point, Oliver you—"

"You tracked my call, that's just great!" Oliver slid a hand over his face before lifting his eyes back to the girl. "Ari, you ran away again and—"

"You knew where I was because you had Felicity lojack every electronic device I own." Ari said with a pointed finger. "Didn't think I knew that, did you?" the look in Oliver's eyes let her know she wasn't getting out of this easy. "Oliver, I'm sorry, but—"

"Ari, I don't know what to do. I ground you, take away your—" he shook his head. "Took away some of your electronics because apparently you have some hidden that I don't know about." He turned back to the girl. "And it hasn't changed anything. You're still making dangerous decisions and I have no idea how to get through to you so you can see it. If something were to have happened to you—"

"It wouldn't."

"You don't know that. This time you were able to get from Star City to Coast City. Anything could've happened."

"It wouldn't." Ari said once again and Oliver frowned at her certainty. "I can protect myself now if I need to." Oliver continued to look at her for a moment, and suddenly it clicked.

"Nyssa," Oliver had flat out told Nyssa that she was not to train Ari at all, but apparently it didn't matter. "You have been sneaking out more and you're meeting with Nyssa."

"You should be relieved. I'm not some helpless kid who can't take care of herself. No one will ever hurt me again." Oliver's eyes looked down to the girl once again in a very unexpected situation that he had no idea how to handle. "You know I'm right. She helped me and—" the door to the bathroom opened, and both turned to see Katie who walked over to stand next to Oliver.

"You are never to see Nyssa again." The order took Ari by surprise, but she quickly opened her mouth to oppose. "And there is absolutely nothing you can say to change that. If I find out that you're sneaking out to see her, then I will ensure it never happens again." Katie took a step toward the girl. "You will not run away again because despite what you think, there is always someone out there who can hurt you, and apparently it's our job to make sure that doesn't happen. There will be no more lying, and when we get home we are going to tear your room apart until we find every electronic device you own. You're grounded indefinitely until I say you aren't."

"That's not fair! I was coming to see you! You were dead and then in a coma and I thought I lost you and—"

"And you would've seen me. You know you would've and I'm sure Oliver told you that. He also told you to stay put, but you didn't listen to him. You thought you knew better, but Ari you don't not always, and in situations like this where he's trying to keep you safe, you should've listened." Ari glared to the woman before looking over to Oliver. She let out a huff before stalking out of the room slamming the door closed behind her.

Oliver stood there, looking over to Katie a bit amazed. He missed her so much and one of the reasons were for moments like this. Where he was at his whits end in parenting situations and he didn't know what to do. He knew she would just know what to do.

"Thanks, that was-"

"Why didn't take me to see her?" Katie asked turning back to the man. "Or brought her here? Or I don't know tell me that we raise my cousin's daughter after I killed him and sent his wife to prison?" Oliver let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry, I just wasn't sure how to bring that topic up. Like you said, we have to be careful. We have no idea what information can hurt you, or effect you, and I just wanted to ease into everything and not throw everything at you at once."

"Like Ra's Al Ghul being my uncle and Nyssa being my cousin?" Oliver dropped his head. "I'm sure you were going to tell me that too, in good time, right?" Katie turned away from the man stalking over to stand by the window.

"I know Nyssa was here." Oliver said and Katie closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Apparently her leaving hell didn't get her very far. Nyssa, and her father were still tangled in her life even after getting away, and now she knows she's in her family's life as well.

"How much do you know about me and my time in Nanda Parbat?" Katie asked.

"I think I know the majority of what happened to you, but I don't think I know all of it." Oliver said and Katie opened her eyes and looked back to him. "I know it was a time you've never really gotten past."

"So you know that the Demon hurt me?" she asked taking steps toward the man. "Did you know know his daughter sometimes joined in on the torture as well?" she found herself standing in front of him. "They're monsters and I just found out that their blood-" she lifted her hands, and Oliver looked down to see how they were shaking.

"Hey," he took her hands in his and she lifted her eyes to him. "You are not a monster." she shook her head, pulling from his grasp before walking around the man back over to look out the window, her eyes once again looking up to the stars.

"This isn't real." she said turning to face him. "None of this can be real."

"Twinkie-"

"Don't call me that!" she said angrily before stalking out of the room. Oliver wasn't sure what to say or do, but he wasn't letting her go, and so he followed after her.

"Oh my gosh!" he heard and turned to see his sister engulfing Katie in a tight hug. "Twinkie, I'm so happy to see you."

"Speedy?" Katie said and Thea pulled back, letting the woman see her face clearly. Katie stared back to the woman with wide eyes as she placed her hands on her face. "You're so old." both women laughed as Thea once again brought her into a hug that Katie returned.

"I missed you so much." Thea muttered not wanting to even pull away. "You have no idea how much we missed you." Katie didn't say anything and so Thea lifted her head to see the woman glancing to the room behind her. "Oh-" Thea looked back to Oliver who quickly came over.

"Katie, we heard that Ari was here, so I thought me and Thea would bring Robyn." Oliver said watching the dazed stare of the woman who continued to stare into the nursery her eyes locked on the crib. "Would you like to meet her?" Katie took a step toward the nursery, stopping just before she could enter. It happened so suddenly. Katie's eyes clenched shut as she turned away. Her heart began ramming in her chest. "Twinkie?" Oliver placed a hand on her shoulder, only now realizing that she was shaking again. "Hey-" he moved to stand in front of her, placing his hands on both of her shoulders. "Hey Twinkie, look at me." she shook her head before turning her eyes to him. She glanced back into the nursery before pulling away and stalking down the hall. She quickly jogged down the steps, her eyes going straight to the front door fully prepared to just walk out.

"Hey, what's happening?" Katie stopped at the question, turning to see Felicity. "Is everything alright?" Felicity cautiously stepped toward the woman, turning as Oliver came down the stairs. Katie glanced back to him before once again turning for the door.

"I'm sorry!" Oliver called after her. Her hand was on the doorknob, but she stopped. "I should've told you the truth. This is all crazy and scary, but don't run away from this." she glanced over her shoulder to the man. "You once told me that you were taught to face your fears head on. So let's do that now. Let's face this, together." Katie turned back to the door, and she couldn't help but want to just walk out and leave. She just wanted to run as fast as she could away from everything and yet his words found something inside of her. She pulled her hand back and turned to face him. He let out a sigh before turning to Felicity.

"Oh, right, I'm just going to go up to check on Thea." Felicity said before heading up the stairs. Oliver turned back to Katie who fell back against the door and looked back to him. They stood there in silence.

"Do you want to know why this can't be real? Because there is no way in hell I would ever let that woman near anyone in my family, and yet my baby cousin knows her by name. Ari just told me that Nyssa isn't a bad person, she helps people now."

"Katie-"

"The truth, Oliver." she said and Oliver let out a sigh.

"The truth is that the Demon came back for you." Oliver said and he noticed her take a slight step back, but he stepped forward, taking her hand. "But there was no way I was going to let that happen. I promised you that I would never let that happen." she looked up to his eyes and she could see the seriousness of his promise.

"Did you kill the demon?" Oliver looked at her without even blinking.

"Yes." he said before placing his hands on her face. "And I would do it again. It took a while, but Nyssa finally saw the monster her father truly was." Katie turned away from the man. "Katie-"

"I wouldn't allow her near Ari, no matter how reformed she says she is." she turned back to Oliver. "Her being near Ari was you, right?" Oliver didn't say anything and Katie let out a huff before pulling from his grasp, and walked around him to the kitchen. Oliver dropped his head because he knew she'd be angry about Nyssa's involvement in their lives, about her interactions with their kids. He knew she'd be angry about that even if she did remember. He knew he'd have to defend that decision and so he would. He turned and walked after her.

"Yes." she turned back to meet his eyes. "Given everything that has happened, I truly believe that she had changed, and I trusted her. I didn't want to, I really would've loved to keep her as far away from me and our girls as possible, but I was put in a position where I had to trust her and I'm glad I did because when I needed her, she was there, protecting them when I couldn't." Katie silently stared at the man before walking over and taking a seat at the kitchen table. Oliver stood there for a moment before going to taken the seat beside her. He looked at her once again wondering what was going on inside of her head.

"The demon is my uncle. Nyssa is my cousin. I killed Jeremy, and his wife's grief and anger drove her to attempt to hold hostage a room full of people until she could prove to the world that I was a monster. Now I'm raising their daughter with you, Oliver Queen who is also the father of our daughter Robyn."

"Katie-"

"Just listen, please. My last memories were relief because I'd finally escaped hell and was able to get home, and then I wake up and I can't-" she dropped her head. "I can't reconcile who I am with how I feel." she looked back up to the man. "I can't imagine a world where any of this is possible, and yet I wake up and it just is and that is really-" she closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath and Oliver reached over to take her hand in his. She opened her eyes to see him staring back to her.

"What do you need? This moment, right now, whatever you need I will make it happen." Oliver said.

"What I told Ari stands. Nyssa comes no where near our family." Oliver gave a nod in agreement. Plus he thinks after Nyssa explicitly disregarded his wishes of her training Ari, distance between the two could be good. Katie turned away from the man's eyes as he continued to stare at her. He doesn't think he could ever get tired of just looking at her. After imagining that moments like this would never come, he just couldn't stop himself.

"Katie about Jeremy-" Katie closed her eyes because she'd gotten the details from Ari earlier, and yet it didn't make a difference. "He had a gun to our friend's head and he was going to kill him. If you hadn't-"

"I know the story." Katie says turning back to Oliver. "Ari, of all people, had to tell it to me. I killed her father, and her mother, so crazy with grief, went to the lengths to get the world to see the monster I was. And now I'm raising their daughter."

"Katie, you had no other choice. You could've killed him or watched him kill John." it was a fact that he'd always tried to get her to understand for so long, and yet she'd always let the guilt of her actions make her believe otherwise. More silence followed. He didn't want to push too much and he wanted to give her time to just absorb all of the information that was given to her. "Hey-" he reached over, placing his hand above hers and he was glad she didn't pull away. She turned away though, her eyes going to the pizza boxes that were in front of them. She simply reached forward to open the box and pulled out a slice.

"Right now, I want you to tell me our story." Katie says looking over to the man. "I want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of our story, and I want you to help me believe it, because right now I'm finding it difficult to believe this isn't all some twisted dream or nightmare, so start from the beginning. You said you chased me across your lawn." Oliver chuckled as he turned to her.

"Yeah, I had been back for a few months and one night, I saw you and-" he smiled at her. "It finally felt like I was home." she look into his eyes, once again seeing that look on his face as he stared at her, and she still couldn't figure out what that look meant. "So yeah, a friend of ours, John Diggle, saw you and he thought you were a reporter trying to question Thea."

"Question Thea about what?"

"She'd just been arrested after crashing her car while she was under the influence of drugs. She was charged and had to go to court because of it. " Oliver said and Katie's eyes widened.

"Speedy?" Katie asked, glancing up to the ceiling before looking back to Oliver.

"Yeah, she was kind of in a bad place after dealing with what happened to me, and dad, and you leaving. You'd just gotten back to town, and you saw us on television after learning that Thea had been let off with only having to serve community service."

"So I saw you on TV after thinking you were dead?" Katie asked and Oliver nodded and Katie sighed turning away. She turned back to him and sighed. "Ok, keep going, what else happened?"

Oliver's story continued. He'd told her about everything from stepping on John's foot, to the hit man sent to kill her. He'd gotten to the Malcolm Merlyn part of their story and his involvement in the attempts on her life to gain control of her father's company. They'd moved to the living room where Katie lied on the couch, her eyes focused on the logs of the fireplace for just a few moments before exhaustion finally took over and she drifted off to sleep. Oliver glanced over to her before standing to his feet and grabbing the blanket from the side of the couch and draping it over her. He dropped down and placed a kiss to the top of her head. His phone vibrated and when he pulled it out, he looked down to see a message from Bruce. He sighed before once again glancing down to Katie as he turned and headed for the back door. When he stepped out the door, he looked over to see Bruce and Nyssa standing at the base of the steps.

"Look who I found?" Bruce said and the woman standing beside him sent a glare before turning back to Oliver.

"Nyssa, what are you doing here?" Oliver asked walking down to the woman. "You should've come to me before you came here. You knew whatever reunion the two of you would've had probably would've ended in the same way." Nyssa turned away and Oliver noticed the look that passed across her face. "You saw the news."

"Yes, and I wanted to see her for myself." Nyssa said turning back to Oliver. "She doesn't remember, does she?"

"No, she doesn't and we were revealing things to her slowly. We hadn't gotten to you and your dad and the fact that the people who tortured her were also her family." Nyssa turned away at his words. She really did try to forget the terrible things her father did, and the terrible things she'd done in his name. Once upon a time she was completely devoted to him and everything he did, and that included the treatment of Katie. She always noticed her father's attention on Katie, his focus on trying to make her into something she had no desire to be. He went to extreme measures to mold his Nura into his liking, and she was right there with him as his devoted follower. "Nyssa, you can't be here." she turned back to the man. "Katie has made it clear that you are to be no where near our family." Nyssa frowned. She'd actually gotten used to the connections created with Oliver and his little family. She'd developed a somewhat comforting relationship with the young Ari. She couldn't help but see some of herself in the girl.

"And you agreed to this? After everything I've done to prove that I'm no longer the person I was?" Nyssa pointed a finger at the man. "After I protected your children when you couldn't?! You told me that I was apart of this family."

"I know what I told you, but you and I both knew that when Katie came back, this—you, being here would be an issue. Whatever happened to her in Nanda Parbat, whatever your father and you did to her, she's still holding on to it and she's reminded of it when she sees you. So for right now, you need to keep your distance." the woman shook her head with a roll of her eyes as she turned to walk away. "That includes Ari. I know you've been training her, after I told you not to," Nyssa turned back to him. "It was not your place."

"No, it was yours, but you refused to see what was staring you right in the face." Nyssa took a step toward the man. "There are monsters out there far worse than Damien Darhk, and one day you're going to find him and you're going to do that annoying thing you do and get yourself a new enemy. When that happens, they will come at you anyway they can, and that includes your children. I'm giving her a fighting chance, and with you and Nura as her guardians, she will need it." and with that the woman turned, stalking out into the darkness.

Oliver groaned in annoyance before turning to Bruce who stood there silently glancing over his shoulder as if looking for someone. Oliver soon felt a sudden tingling himself, and he lifted his eyes to search through the darkness.

"Jacob?"

"Most likely." Bruce replied turning back to the man. "But I'll get confirmation. How's she doing?" Oliver shrugged honestly. He still couldn't gauge her emotions as she took in so much information.

"She seems to be handling all of this ok, but I don't think I would know if she wasn't. I remember her three years ago when she'd came back. She kept everything in and rarely let anything out."

"Anything coming back to her?" Bruce asked and Oliver turned to the man.

"I honestly don't know. She hasn't mentioned remembering anything, but I'm not sure she would. Not to me at least. I mean I feel she's starting to be more comfortable with me, but I also feel that she's trying to keep some distance as well."

"Well then you try harder." Bruce commented before turning and stalking off into the darkness as well. Oliver shook his head in annoyance before turning and walking back into the house. He walked back in to the living room, his eyes going to the couch confused to find it empty. He turned, walking toward the hall, his heart dropping the moment he saw the front door wide open. Oliver quickly rushed over, stepping out onto the porch, spotting the woman standing barefoot in the grass in front of the house.

"Katie?" he rushed over to her and she simply held a hand to quiet him. "What's going on?" she turned to face him, placing a finger to her lips. Oliver lifted his eyes, finally deciding to listen instead of speaking. That's when he heard the sound of glass breaking. Both turned their heads, finding the direction of the sound. "Twinkie, go back in the house, I'll go check it out."

"It's probably just a burglar," she said offhandedly. "You should go call the police, and I'll make sure no one is hurt." she took a step forward, but he caught her arm and pulled her back. She actually knew he wouldn't go for that. She turned back to face him.

"You remember what you told Ari, about listening to me when I'm trying to keep her safe?" Oliver asked and Oliver lightly sighed. "Please go back in the house and I will check it out." she stared at him for a moment, and he could tell she didn't want to, but she nodded.

"Find, just-" she looked up to his eyes. "Be careful and scream really loudly if you need help." Oliver couldn't help the tug of his lips as he looked down to the woman.

"I will remember that. Now please, go inside and lock the door." she moved around the man climbing up the steps. He watched her until she was safely inside before he went in search of the source of the noise.

Katie peeked out the window, watching as Oliver walked along the sidewalk. She huffed in annoyance when he walked out of sight. She turned at the sound of footsteps just as Ari came downstairs. The teen stopped halfway down the steps the moment she spotted her cousin. She glared before turning around about to head upstairs.

"There's pizza if you're hungry." Katie said and Ari stopped. The whole reason for leaving her room was to search for food. "I mean you can be upset with me and still eat." Ari turned back around and came down the stairs. She cast one final glance to her cousin before heading for the kitchen. Katie walked back over to the window, hoping to see Oliver, but he still hadn't come back to the house. Soon she heard more footsteps and when she turned, this time she saw Felicity and Thea.

"It got quiet." Felicity said as they walked down the stairs. "Where's Oliver?" Katie shook her head before turning back to look out the window. She was going to give him a couple of more minutes before she went after him.

"I heard something strange outside, and he went to check it out." Katie says before turning back to the women who shared a look of what looked like concern. "What?" the expressions dropped from their faces when they turned back to Katie, both smiling.

"Nothing, it's probably just some kids messing around." Thea said walking over to Katie and bringing an arm around her, pulling her toward the couch to sit. "So how are you?" Katie looked at the woman for a moment, once again lost in her face. Just looking at little Speedy all grown up, just reminded her of how much time had truly passed.

"I'm-" Katie dropped her head, as a tug of emotion almost poured out of her. She pulled on a smile before looking back up to the woman. "Fine," Katie stood to her feet once again going over to the window. "He's been gone too long, I'm just going to-" Katie stopped at the sound of the back door opening and closing. She quickly went to check it out to her surprise, it was Oliver and he looked slightly out of breath. "What happened?"

"It was just kids messing around." he replied.

"Oh," she gave a nod before glancing over to Ari who glanced over to Oliver with a furrowed brow.

"You didn't catch them?" Ari asked.

"No, I did not." Oliver said pointedly, hoping the teen would stop the line of questioning. The truth was it was an few ARGUS guys that Jacob had sent, but they all rushed off when he and Bruce neared. He decided to head back while Bruce continued on their trail. Right now he didn't want to tell Katie about her father or the eyes he always seems to have on her.. Ari just rolled her eyes before placing her pizza on a plate, and grabbing her bottle of water and heading up the stairs. Oliver let out a sigh before turning back to Katie, and now seeing Felicity and Thea walk into the kitchen as well.

They all stood there, their eyes on Katie and she suddenly felt annoyed and so she shook her head before turning and going in to the other room. Thea and Felicity went to follow, but Oliver took a step to stop them and they looked over to him in confusion.

"How about you two just give her a break for a bit." the two woman sighed and Oliver could see how much they genuinely just wanted to help, but he was afraid of being overwhelmed. Felicity looked over to Thea.

"Wine and pizza?"

"That sounds perfect right about now." Thea said before the two woman grabbed a bottle, no glasses and headed out the back door. Oliver just shook his head before turning and walking back into the living room where he found Katie, looking out the window.

She turned and faced him and he silently looked back to her. A lot had happened today, he knew she was trying to process so much at once and he didn't want to push anymore. He wanted her to tell him what more she needed.

"I don't understand why this is happening." she dropped her eyes from his, and it took all of his will power not to go over to her, wrap his arms around her in comfort. She lifted her eyes back to his, silently staring once again. "But I want to remember. All of this. This doesn't seem like a life someone should just be plopped into the middle of. I want to know how I got here after everything I've gone through." he continued to just listen and she was glad. He just stared at her with that look that now turned her insides into goo. She turned away from the look hoping to reign in her confusing emotions. "Telling me about our life hasn't jogged anything." her eyes found his once again. "You have to show me. Walk me through it." she let out a deep breath as she glanced around the house. "You said we weren't here long, maybe that's why nothing has jumped out at me even though I just feel—" she looked back to him. "I feel this place was important for some reason, but it doesn't feel like—"

"Home." Oliver said and she nods. "Are you ready for that? Going back to Star City, it will be a lot. A lot of people, a lot of questions and comments. A lot of just noise, and I don't want you to-" he dropped his head and let out a deep breath. "We left that city because of that noise." he shook his head as he thought of how he let their fantasy slip away because he couldn't put down that bow.

"But then we went back, right?" he looked back to her and she shrugged. "A part of me is here in this house, and I can feel it, but I can't see it. Because this wasn't the beginning. I need to see how how we got here, and I need to see how we could leave." She walked over to him, closing the distance between them before she hesitantly rose her hand to take his. "You have to take me home." she felt his grip tighten a bit at the words and she wasn't sure what it meant.

The next day, late afternoon, Katie doesn't feel nervous until they turn a corner, and she spots a familiar street sign. She drags her hand across her leg before pinching the tight material of her jeans. When she glances over to Oliver, his eyes are straight ahead, but he feels her stare and glances over to her, and as she expects he smiles at her. Soon he pulls over to the side, and Katie frowns before glancing out the window to a house she doesn't remember.

"I'm just going to wait for Thea's call." Oliver said and Katie turned to him with a quirked brow. "One of the reasons I wanted her and the girls to go ahead was to make sure the coast was clear." for some reason that made her nervous. She glanced back out the window, expecting to spot a foe from her past, but Oliver reaches over and slips his hand over hers, giving a squeeze to reassure her. She turns back to him, his eyes fixed on her with a smile. "From the press. A lot of people saw you at the train station, and they showed up here the other day. I was able to hold them off, but that doesn't always work." she let out a snort, once again glancing out the window.

"How-" she wasn't sure what she wanted to ask. It was still difficult to find a way to fit her reality into what she assumed would be her life. She look over to Oliver, that softened gaze still on her as his hand still firmly holds her own. "I just-" his phone rang and Oliver sighed as he reach into his pocket. He saw Thea's number and quickly answered.

"Hey Thea, give me a sec, I'll call you back." Oliver said before turning his attention back to Katie and she looked a bit surprised. "What were you saying?" Oliver stared, awaiting for her to speak. He wanted to keep her talking, because when she spoke, he at least got a glimmer of what was happening in her head.

"Oliver, you just ended a call because we were in the middle of a conversation." Katie says narrowing her eyes at the man. "You're being sweet and considerate and-" she turned away. "I supposedly had this perfect life." she eyed the man who was still staring and she was beginning to wonder if he was actually watching her instead. "Perfect husband, cute daughter, we took in my cousin when no one else would." she pulled her hand away from Oliver and he frowned slightly at the move. "And yet something so bad happened that I can't even remember any of it." She noticed he looked nervous and she just shook her head. "You know what happened, but you won't tell me because everyone is afraid I'll go completely insane or something."

"That's not it." Oliver says, but Katie doesn't turn to him and he hates it. He hates that having her back physically could mean not having her back completely. A piece of her is still gone. Still lost. "We are going to just take everything slow, and then hopefully your memories will come back."

"And what if they don't?" she asked, still refusing to look at the man. She doesn't want to look at him. Doesn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes as he realizes that she could possibly never be that woman he married. "What if I never remember?" she finally turns back to him and shrugs. "What if you never get her back? Your Twinkie, who you built this entire life with? Are you really willing to sign up for that possibility?"

"Yes." he said without hesitation. He reached over and once again took her her hand. "Memories or not, you're my wife, you're the woman I fell hopelessly in love with. So if you don't ever get your memories back, we will just create new ones. The day I married you was the day I signed up for all the twists and turns in our life. This will just be another."

"I find your optimism annoying." she replied unable to stop the small smile that sneaks onto her face. She turns away to look away from him, in hopes he doesn't see, but he does and he smiles.

"You always have." He replied when his phone beep. He glanced down to see the text from Thea. "Looks like the coast is clear." Katie looked back over to him. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" she dropped her head slightly before looking back to him with a nod.

"Yes, I'm ready."

The drive wasn't long, and soon they once again stopped. Her eyes turned and that's when she saw it. Katie stepped out of the car, only taking a single step as she glancing up to the large house she'd only dreamed about. This was it. This was always the finish line. Years of torture, years of deception, years of tears and blood. She always imagined that if she could just get back home, then it would all just be better. Sort of like a switch that could flick and erase everything that happened before. She wanted to cry because she's only now realizing how foolish such thoughts were. She wants to cry because she feels that after everything she's endured, after everything she's done, she isn't deserving enough to be here. It seems like a reward she doesn't think she's earned. Her feet unconsciously take a step back, and a faraway thought creeps to the front of her mind, telling her to run. A hand slides around her back, and she turns to Oliver, whose eyes look to hers with concern.

"Seeing this house just reminds me of the fact that I'm not dead." she says turning back to the house and Oliver doesn't say anything because he doesn't know how to respond. He wonders if it's a thought she's had in the past and just never told him. "It started to feel like a figment of my imagination. Or like some fantasy I was always reaching for, but could never fully grasp."

"You've never told me that before." Oliver said and Katie looked over to him. "The you from four years ago wouldn't have told me that." he smiled before placing a kiss to the top of her head. Memories or not, his Twinkie was in there. He just had to find her. "C'mon, let's go home." with his hand still firmly around her waist, Oliver lead her toward the house, and she let him.

Neither one of them was aware that several photographs were taken of them in the few seconds it took from them to enter their home.

The act itself could only be described as a predator stalking it's prey.


	5. Worth a Thousand Words

**Chapter 5**

**  
Worth a Thousand Words**

" _Fear warps our understanding of reality_

_and even our ability to see reality clearly."_

_-Victor LaValle_

* * *

Oliver thinks he should worry. He stands at the end of the hall of the second level of their house staring at their bedroom door. His wife was on the other side, and he barely saw her. One week since they stepped foot into the house. He actually held his breath when she walked inside now able to see what she didn't see in the house in Coast City. Pictures of them together. Pictures of herself. He watched her face, watched the dip and rise of her brows as she studied each picture she passed. The last picture she looked at was his favorite. It was a picture from their second wedding. They were standing outside, a fussy Robyn in her arms flailing about as they both look down to her in amusement. That picture held her longer than the others. After a few moments, she turned to him and said she was going to go up to her room. She quickly retreated and he followed, only to find her standing in the middle of Ari's room. That's when he told her that their room was further down the hall. She didn't say anything as she gave a nod and walked into the room closing the door behind her.

Today as he stands at the end of that hall, he wonders if he should go to her. She wanted to come back so he could show her where they started, and yet she still hasn't come out of that room. He or Thea brings her up food, that she takes, but she never leaves the room and now he's just worried.

"Ollie?" Oliver turned at the sight of his sister who was coming up the stairs. She glanced down the hall to the door and sighed. "Still haven't worked up the courage to ask her?"

"Maybe it's too soon." He turned back to the bedroom door. "There's going to be a lot of people at this Gala—"

"Ollie, you've already confirmed your attendance, and if you ever want to come to some sort of agreement about the ACI."

"I get that, which is why I will be there, I just don't-" Oliver turned to his sister. "There will be a lot of people there, a lot of press, and I'm not sure if she will be comfortable with that." Thea looked at him for a moment with narrowed eyes. "What?"

"Ollie, are you nervous about asking your wife out on date?" Oliver rolled his eyes, before glancing over to that door once more. He shook his head before turning and heading to the nursery instead. "You are, aren't you?" Thea followed him, smiling at the sight of her niece who was awake and bouncing up and down in her crib.

"Dah da da da," the girl repeated as she continued to bounce. Oliver scooped the baby into his arms, pressing kisses to her cheek and neck causing breathless giggles as he brings her to the changing table.

"Can you say Thee-ah?" Thea says from beside her brother. Oliver looks over to his sister and just shakes his head. Robyn's vocabulary hasn't expanded beyond Da da or Ree Ree and the occasional hi and bye. The rest is incoherent baby babble and what they think might be animal sounds she learned in day care, but it hasn't stopped his sister from trying to change that. "C'mon, it's really easy, say Thee-ahhh." Robyn decides to spit bubbles instead, and Oliver can't help but to laugh.

"I think that's her way of saying, give it up auntie Thea." Oliver says before going about changing her diaper.

"Why are you nervous about asking Twinkie out on a date?" Thea asked and Oliver huffed as he tossed the dirty diaper into the bin and grabbed a wipe.

"Because this wouldn't be a date. Our next date won't be at some police gala." he grabbed a fresh diaper and sealed it around the baby before picking her up in his arms. "Like I said, there's going to be a lot of press there, and I don't want cameras jammed in her face." Oliver carried the child out of the room down the hall before knocking on Ari's door. "Are you up?!"

"Unfortunately my eyes have opened once again to this dungeon you've got me locked in!" Ari called back dramatically and Oliver rolled his eyes.

"Well once you've gotten over that, come down for breakfast!" he said before turning and heading down the hall.

"Hey, I can move the press, or she can come in through another entrance or—" Oliver stopped and turned his annoyed expression to her. "I'm being pushy, I know this, but Ollie she's back and it's time for her to come out of that room and actually join her life."

"That doesn't happen until she's ready. I'm not pushing her, and neither are you." with that, Oliver turns and head downstairs to make his daughter's breakfast. Thea sighs, her eyes glancing back down to that bedroom door before going downstairs as well.

Arianna begrudgingly stepped out of her room at the smell of waffles. She wants to curse Oliver's name for knowing her weakness. She steps into the hallway about to head down, before looking down the other end to Oliver and Katie's bedroom. She hadn't seen much of her cousin since they came back. Oliver said it was because of all the pictures and that seeing her face in them and not remembering was overwhelming. Ari was still upset with Katie at coming back and attempting to put a stop to her relationship with Nyssa, but she figures there was a past there she doesn't know about. She lets out a dramatic sigh before heading down the hall and knocking on the door.

"I'm not hungry!" Katie's voice calls from inside of the room and Ari lets out a snort before twisting the door knob, and walking inside. The room was dim when she walked inside, the only light coming from the streams of sunlight cracking through the drawn curtains, and the laptop opened on the bed. "Ari?" Ari walked over and climbed onto the bed beside her cousin to look at the computer.

"I think this is my laptop Oliver confiscated." Ari said as she looked at the screen to see a picture of Katie, and some article about her return. "You shouldn't read this stuff." she looked over to Katie who sighed as she fell back on the pillow behind her. Ari looked from the laptop to the note pad that seemed to be scribbled with notes. "Are you like researching yourself?"

"I'm not sure of what else to do." Katie says pointing to the computer. "It's so strange to be reading some of this stuff and not have the faintest clue about any of it. "I was the CEO of my father's company, apparently did great things before I stepped down. For a while I was also a doctor at GMH before I quit to focus all of my attention on my family's company." she sat up from the bed and stood to her feet. "Let's not forget the fairy-tale love story that happened in congruent to all of this between Oliver Queen and Katherine Robins." she turned to face Ari and let out a huff. "There's this whole life that I was smack dab in the middle of and right now I can't remember anything. If you have any better ideas of how I should handle this, then I'm all ears." Ari turned away for a moment, her eyes looking down to the screen.

"Waffles." the girl said turning back to Katie, the look of confusion clear even in the dim-lit room. "Oliver's making waffles, and don't tell him I said this, but they're kind of awesome. So start with waffles."

"Ari, I don't think waffles are going to solve my problems."

"Not solve them, just bury them under mounds of maple syrup." Katie laughed despite herself. She slid a hand over her face and decided that she was just going to step away from this.

"Fine, lets go eat waffles."

Oliver was trying his best to ignore his sister, but she was making it hard.

"Ollie, are you listening?"

"Not really." Oliver says placing another waffle on the plate beside him. "Thea I won't be late. I know how important this gala is." Thea let out a snort before turning to her niece who happily ate her cereal in her highchair.

"You see your daddy says this, and yet he's still going to be late." Thea reaches over a plucks a piece of cereal from the baby's bowl and tosses it into her mouth. "How are you feeling about the press conference this weekend?" she looks back over to her brother who seems to stiffen at the question. "You're not having second thoughts are you? Because if that conference doesn't happen—"

"I know. I'll have the press camping out on the front lawn." Oliver lets out a sigh before turning to his sister. "The press conference is still on, and I will answer all of their questions as best I can."

"And Twinkie-"

"The answer is no, Thea." Oliver replies as the kitchen door pushes open. He knew the smell of waffles would get the teen downstairs. He turns, expecting the snarky Ari, but what he doesn't expect is to see his wife as well. "Hey, hi, uh—are you—I made—" he has no idea why he's suddenly nervous and rambling and so he takes a deep breath. "Good Morning." she doesn't say anything as her eyes seem transfixed on the baby across the kitchen still eating her cereal. Robyn's eyes happen to look up, and she sees the new faces in the kitchen. She looks at her mother, and stops eating. Her hands suddenly shoot out toward Katie, and she's babbling something no one in the room can understand. Katie takes a step forward, and then stops. She places a hand over her chest before taking a step back. "Katie?" she finally looks over to him before turning and leaving the kitchen. Ari, turns to follow, but Oliver walks over catching her arm to stop her. "I got it. You eat your breakfast." Oliver pushes through the kitchen door, in time to see Katie heading back up stairs. "Katie, wait!" he's glad she stops walking. "What just happened?"

"I don't—" she turns toward him as he climbs the steps to stand in front of her. "I don't know what just happened. I saw her, that baby, that beautiful-" she lets out an uneven breath before taking a step back to sit on the step. " I wanted to pick her up, to hold her in my arms, to stare at her face, but-" she looked to Oliver who lowered himself to sit on the step below her. "When I took that step toward her, this feeling of dread washed over me. Like some sort of sign that I shouldn't be near her. Why-" she dropped her eyes. "Why would I ever feel that way?" Oliver let out a sigh as he placed a hand on top of hers. He was confused at first about her reluctance to see their daughter and now he knows why. It's why after that first time that darkness took over, his wife refused to see Robyn in fear that she was a danger to her. Right now that fear is still inside of her, she just doesn't remember why.

"Well you will hold her when you're ready." Oliver says and she looks down to him. "But I think you should know I believe that the moment you do, you'll feel a whole lot better. It's kind of her superpower." she smiles and he does as well.

"You know I read online that you're going to some police gala tonight." she says and Oliver's eyes widen a bit. "I found Ari's laptop in the closet and have sort of been digging." Oliver frowned slightly, unsure if he wants her source of information to come from the internet.

"Well yeah, I've been working with the police to find some improvements, but I can stay here with you if you-"

"No," Katie says quickly and she notices a flash of disappointment over his features and she turns her hand to squeeze his. "Not like that, it's just, you're the Mayor. You should be doing Mayoral things like going to police galas, not babysitting your crazy amnesic..." for the life of her, wife just couldn't roll of her tongue and yet it didn't change the reality. "Wife. You should go." Oliver looked at her for a moment and gave a nod.

"Ok." he said still holding on to her hand. "It's just—uh-" a fumbling Oliver Queen made Katie smile even more. She's never seen him act this nervous before. He stops, takes a deep breath and looks up to her with a smile. "Did you want to come with me?"

"To the Gala?" Katie asks. Since returning, she hasn't really been faced with the outside world, except for the stint at the train station which resulted in what she think was a panic attack. She didn't want that to happen again, especially not at some important function. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that." he didn't seem as disappointed with the answer as she expected, which made her believe that it was the answer he did expect. The sound of Robyn's laughter sounded from upstairs that caused her parents to lift their eyes up. Katie once again placed a hand on her chest, before turning away and looking back to Oliver. "So I have it on good authority that you make some pretty awesome waffles." Oliver smiled before standing to his feet and holding out a hand to her. She looked to his out stretched hand before taking it and letting him help her to her feet.

"I don't want to brag, but I'd say they're kind of better than awesome." Oliver knew he had to be smiling like a fool right now because the smile on the woman's face in front of him only caused that flutter in his gut that only she could.

"Well I think I'll be the judge of that, and I'm kind of a harsh critic." she has no idea that she takes a step toward him, closing the space between them. There's a voice in her head screaming at her to back away, and yet that voice doesn't seem to over power that tingling underneath her skin and that nagging desire to reach out and slide her hands on his chest. They stand there, the silence between them, as they feel that air between them getting thick and filled with desire. Suddenly the doorbell rings, and they're forced out of the moment. "Right, I'll go check out the waffle situation and you can get the door." she doesn't give him the chance to respond before she moves around him and heads into the kitchen." The doorbell rang again, and Oliver heads down the stairs to pull it open. His eyes widened at the sight of the man he didn't expect to see.

"Constantine?" the blonde haired Brit smiled widely before peeking in the house.

"Hey there mate, mind if I—" Constantine attempted to walk into the house, but Oliver jerked up his arm to stop him. Oliver glanced back into the house before pushing Constantine back as he closed the door behind him. "So I'm assuming the reason you didn't call me is because you really don't want me here?"

"Bruce called you."

"He did, but it should've been you though."

"Look, she's fine. That thing is gone, and she's fine."

"Except for the whole memory loss thing, right?" Constantine asks with a shake of his head. "You know I distinctly remember you wanting me back here when she woke up, and now—" Oliver turned away from the man's gaze. "You're afraid of what I might find."

"You're not going to find anything, because she's fine," Oliver turned back to the man. "It's gone and my wife is back. We will work on getting her memories back."

"Yeah, but you have her in the house, with your kids. Shouldn't you make sure she really is alright?" Constantine asked and Oliver knew he was right, but he doesn't know what it is. He just knows it's gone. When he looks at his wife, he sees her. Maybe he just doesn't want to tempt fate with possibilities. "If she's fine, I'll find nothing. Hell, I might even be able to figure out why she can't remember anything."

"Fine, I will talk to her and see how she feels about this. I'll call you." Oliver takes a step back and Constantine simply nods before turning and walking away. Oliver watched the man until he walked down the sidewalk and finally out of view. He let out a sigh before stepping back inside the house where he was immediately struck with the sound of laughter from the kitchen. He hoped that feeling in his gut wasn't steering him wrong.

In the span of the next hour the entire house was quiet. Ari had gotten dressed and left for school. Thea had gotten a fussy Robyn ready and taken to daycare before going to city hall. Katie had showered and changed before climbing back on her bed and opening the laptop. In the last week, she'd searched what she felt was everything under the sun about herself. But she knew she wouldn't find everything. There was a big chunk she's sure she wouldn't be able to get from the internet. She stared at the screen for a moment before a smirk came to her face as she reached forward.

"Mayor Oliver Queen," she muttered as she typed. As soon as she pressed enter, she smiled when Oliver's face appeared. She let out a snort when she read the headline for one of the articles. "Mayor Handsome." she scrolled until she saw an article about a press conference Oliver would be speaking at in a couple of days. She pressed the link and began reading, and that's when she saw her name. She didn't look up at the knock on the door, or when the door openEd.

"Hey, I know I'm supposed to wait until you tell me to come in, but I have something for—" Oliver stopped at the sight of Katie lying on the bed, totally focused on something she was looking at on the screen. "Hey, what's wrong?" she lifted her eyes to him with a shake of her head.

"You're having a press conference about me?" she asked and Oliver let out a sigh before walking over to sit on the edge of the bed beside her to look at the screen. "I didn't think my return garnered a press conference."

"You underestimate your presence in this city." Oliver says looking over to the article before closing the laptop. He turns to Katie with a smile. "You've done a lot for the people in Star City. This city loves you and after the accident, and your coma, they were upset."

"And then I magically appeared in a train station and now they want answers." Katie says turning away. "I guess I understand. I just I never thought people would care that much about me being here." she turned back to Oliver and just shook her head. "Will I need to be at this press conference?"

"Not if you don't want to. There will be a lot of people there, a lot of press and I don't want you to step in that if you're not ready." she dropped her eyes for a moment before looking back over to him, never quite expecting the intensity of his gaze when he looks at her. She clears her throat before opening the laptop and pulling it to her lap.

"You said you had something for me?" Oliver's attention came back to the moment and he nodded as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone.

"Yeah, this is for you." Oliver says handing the phone to Katie. "My number is programmed into it, so are Thea's, Bruce's, and Felicity's." Katie looked down to the phone swiping a bit on the flat screen phoned with a slight frown.

"Four years, and even the phones are different." she said with a slight smile before looking up to Oliver.

"Call me for whatever reason, whenever you feel like it." he says and Katie chuckled. "I don't care why you're calling, I will answer."

"Well that's good to know." she glanced back down to the phone. "Were you headed to work?"

"Uh, yeah. I haven't really been in the office these last couple of days, but I could stay if you wanted me to. You'd be here alone and if you're not comfortable—" Oliver shook his head. "Actually, I'm going to just stay. They can call if they need something and—"

"Oliver," he stopped talking and turned back to her. "It's fine. I will be here when you come back." he looked at her for a moment, wondering if she'd just read his mind. He really didn't want to leave her here alone, and he certainly didn't want to leave her only to return to find that she was gone. She looked over to him, seeing that hesitance once again, and so she closed the laptop and turned her body to face him fully. "You're the Mayor of Star City."

"I know, but-"

"No buts, you are the mayor and it's your job to make sure the people of this city are safe and taken care of and you can't do any of that babysitting me." she looked down to tie, and it was a bit crooked and so she reached forward to straighten it, her hands falling to rest on his chest before looking back to those eyes that always felt as if he were staring down to her soul.

Oliver had never wanted to kiss anyone as much as he wanted to kiss the woman in front of him at the moment. His eyes chanced a look down to her parted lips and he could feel himself lean forward, but he stopped himself. He didn't want to move too quickly and scare her off which he's sure he would do with the pent up desires he has swirling around inside of him right now.

"Right, you should go," she pulled her hands back and slid away a bit from him, hoping space would clear away the sudden desire to pull him into bed with her. "And I'm just gonna-"

"Twinkie-" she turned to him and he sighed. "Sorry, Katie, you'll see a lot of things on the internet that just aren't true or aren't the complete truth. If I were you I just wouldn't hold much of it with a grain of salt." she gave him a nod and he could could see her deflate a bit and felt the need to give her hope. "There's somewhere I'd like to take you later." she turned back to him with a quirked brow. "The first stop on memory lane." she smiled and gave a nod.

"Sounds like a plan." he smiled before heading out of the room. She glanced down to the laptop and suddenly remembered the question she had for him. "Oh, there's something I was wondering about. Something I read on here—" Oliver stopped and turned back to her. "What is this Green Arrow business?" the man tried not to show his surprise at the question. "Is there really a guy out there shooting bad guys with arrows?" Oliver cleared his throat but gave a nod. This was a topic he hoped to avoid until she actually remembered more about their life. At the moment he's not sure it's something he should drop on her yet.

"Uh yeah, No one knows who he is, but he's been helping clean up the city." Oliver said and Katie looked at him for a moment before looking back down to the laptop. And now he was curious about what she thought. "So, any initial impressions on the guy?" Katie shrugged as she opened the laptop.

"Guy seems like an idiot. I mean who'd go out there trying to fight bullets with arrows. It's like he's trying to get himself killed." if she were looking over to her husband, she'd see the frown on his face at her words. "See you later, Liver." Oliver turned to leave, his hand going to pull open the door, only stopping when he realized what she'd just said. He turned back to her, and she looked up from the laptop to the man in confusion. "What?"

"Did you just called me Liver?" Katie dropped her eyes with a frown as she realized that she did. She shook her head before looking back over to him.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I called you that, I-"

"Don't apologize." Oliver said with a smile as he took in a deep breath trying not to show just how happy he was to hear that damn nickname after feeling like he hadn't heard it in ages. "It's fine. It's your nickname for me." she looked at him for a moment turning away slightly.

"I made that stupid name stick?" she asked before looking back to him to see that smile still planted on his face. "And you actually like it."

"I do. I was your Liver, and you were my Twinkie. Together we were Twiver." Katie turned away once again, closing her eyes hoping something would come to her, even something small, and yet nothing. "Hey-"

"I don't remember," she whispered opening her eyes before turning back to Oliver. "I'm sorry,"

"Don't apologize, never apologize. It will happen, I know it will." for some reason she believed him. Beyond everything she felt, with that certainty in his eyes, she just believed him.

"Alright, enough optimism, go to work." she said, dropping her eyes back to the screen hoping to salvage what little self restraint she had left. Oliver simply chuckled before heading downstairs.

Oliver ignored the lingering stares on him as he entered City Hall. He's pretty sure no one expected him to show up today which is why they were all surprised to see him. He smiled, waved a bit until he finally reached his office. He snagged his phone from his pocket making sure he didn't have any missed calls from Katie which he knew was ridiculous. He hadn't been gone that long, and yet he was tempted to call her. There was a knock on his door and when he looked up, in walked his sister.

"Hey, I was just-" Thea trailed off as she looked over to her brother who looked back to his phone. "You want to call her?"

"Just to check in." Oliver says looking back to his sister. "To make sure everything is alright at the house and that's she's fine." he looked back down to the phone and just shook his head. "Actually I'm not going to call her." Thea watched in confusion as he picked up his brief case. "I'm just going to go back home." he headed for the door, but Thea took a step to the side to block him and he let out a groan of annoyance. "Thea-"

"Oliver, right now you have to give her some space. I know you're worried about her and want to be around her all the time, but she's not going anywhere. Memories or not, I see the way she looks at you. She may not remember this life, but a part of her knows this is where she belongs. So calm down, take a deep breath-" Oliver let out a deep breath. "And now put on a smile because you're just on time for the budget meeting." Oliver frowned before letting his sister pull him from the office.

Katie emerged from her room when she realized she truly was the only one there. She walked down the hall, her eyes moving across the pictures on the wall. It was still hard to believe that she was the one in these pictures, in these moments and yet she couldn't remember it. Right now she wasn't focusing on that. She was taking a break from actively trying to force memories and was just going to step away in hopes that they just returned on their own. She continued down the hall, her pace slowing as she looked down to the door that was slightly opened. Katie pushed opened fully the door to the nursery and let her eyes move across the room. She smiled as she looked at the yellow walls and the plush stuffed animals that filled the room. Her eyes were drawn to the pictures that hung on the wall all showing various moments in little Robyn's life. She settled on the one in the center, it was the picture she'd seen before of her and Oliver, she's in a hospital bed staring down to swaddled Robyn in her arms. The look on both of their faces in this moment she could only describe as what looked like real, pure happiness. She placed her hand on the picture wanting so badly to remember this moment. She turns and looks in the crib, picking up what looked like a stuffed banana wearing a sumbrero. Laughing at the funny thing she hugged it to her chest before walking over to take a seat in the rocking chair near the window. Sitting there she closed her eyes, breathing in the room. Rocking back and forth in the chair, Katie soon fell asleep.

_With a gasp, Katie sat up her eyes wide as she glances around the room she's in. It's a room she doesn't think she can forget. The small, dimlit room that was her prison for years in the demon's fortress. She jumped to her feet going to door, and pulling on the latch, shocked it actually opened. Peeking her head out into the hall, she glanced down both ends glad none of the demon's assassins were patrolling. This was her chance to escape and she wasn't going to waste anymore time. She ran down the hall, not looking back, only forward for her freedom. There was a large wooden door up ahead and so she increased her speed, lifting her arm to barrel through. The door burst open and Katie came to a sliding halt as she came into the demon's war room where a fight was commencing. Her eyes widen because the two people inside the fight circle looked exactly like her. There only distinguishing traits to note was that one them was wearing an all yellow league attire, while the other wore all black. The fight itself seemed so brutal and bloody, as both women were covered in cuts and bruises. Katie wasn't sure if she should interfere, but soon she wouldn't as both women stopped and looked over to her. Suddenly the one in all black turned and ran toward her, but the one in yellow quickly ran after her, jumping on her back and forcing her to the ground before looking up to Katie._

" _You shouldn't be here!" Yellow yelled toward Katie. Katie's eyes widen when the woman suddenly snapped the black clothed woman's neck before standing to her feet and walking toward her. Katie took a step back but the door behind her stopped her. "You should go."_

" _Who—who are you?" Katie asked staring at the mirror image of herself, and the woman smiled._

_"Right now I'm your Guardian," she glanced over her shoulder to see the dark clothed woman groaning as she sat up. She turned back to Katie, glancing down to her hands and seeing the stuffed banana and smiled. "Jose Banana," she looked back up to Katie and smiled. "It's time for you to go."_

" _Wait, you're—" Katie soon realized who she was looking at. "You're her...or me. You're the me who remembers. You have to come back. They want you, not me."_

" _I can't, I—" she glanced over her shoulder and took a deep breath preparing to go back into battle. She looked back to Katie. "Just take care of them, and don't come back here." Katie's eyes looked down to the woman's hand seeing it glowing before she pressed it to Katie's chest._

Katie's eyes flicked open, with a loud gasp as she stood to her feet. Her eyes darted around the room, realizing she was back in the nursery. She looked down to the stuffed toy in her hand and lifted it.

"Jose Banana." she stared at it for a moment when suddenly she sees the image of the toy sitting on a counter before she picks it up and sits down next to a few pregnancy tests. She lifts her eyes from the stuffed toy and lets out a ragged breath. It was the first memory she's had since being back and she doesn't even know what it means. She darts from the nursery to her bedroom where she quickly grabs her phone.

Oliver barely made it out of that budget meeting without falling asleep. Now he was at a lunch meeting he really didn't want to be attending. He glanced over to Thea who sat beside him. She wasn't really needed at the meeting, but she insisted because of who the meeting was with. Thea looked up from her phone, a scowl taking over her features as she spotted the woman across the restaurant.

"Here she comes." Thea says and Oliver turns as well and they stand to their feet as Annabelle walks over all smiles.

"So sorry I'm late," she says taking Oliver's hand to shake before turning to Thea the smile dropping slighltly. "Ms. Queen, hi, I wasn't expecting you at this meeting."

"Well as Oliver's Chief of Staff, I want to know exactly what kind of involvement you're looking to have with him in this new project."

"Of course," Annabelle turned to Oliver and gestured for him to sit. "Why don't we get down to business then." They all sat around the table and both Oliver and Thea turned to the woman. "So I wanted to meet with you to hopefully get your support on an idea we think could have an incredible impact on the city."

"Well I'm always interested in ways we can help this city," Oliver replied. Annabelle's smile widened and Thea had restrain herself from rolling her eyes. "And what's this idea?"

"Ok, so the New Beginning's Initiative, was great, it helped flood our economy with a much needed workforce. It helped bring jobs and just helped bring people together, but I think it could be better. RI is toiling with the idea of making the initiative more profitable, for the company, for this city, and for the people of Star City." Oliver glanced over to Thea who looked at the woman with a slight frown before he turned back to the woman. "At the moment, the initiative allows local business owner to freely request needed employees for their businesses."

"Right, it's a program that's supposed to help businesses and citizens in need of work through job training and direct hire programs. That's the whole purpose of the initiative." Thea commented trying to keep her tone void of the agitation and annoyance she held solely for this woman.

"Yes, but with the extra profits coming into these businesses, wouldn't it make sense for a service like this to be valued more?"

"You want to charge people to request services from the initiative?" Oliver asked hoping that's not what the woman was getting at.

"You say that like it's a bad thing. The world is built on the fact that everything worth having comes at a price. Whether you believe it or not, the NBI is a product that is showing it's value every day it's used. A product my company developed—"

"Not your company." Thea sneered and Annabelle turned to her with a frown. "Katie and Ray didn't develop this initiative to make money, it was never about money, it was about helping the people in this city."

"And neither one of them are currently heading up this initiative. Neither one of them are the CEO of my company. It's my job to see what was, and what can be, and though the NBI was good for what it was at the time, I believe that it can put so much more into this city." she turned back to Oliver and gave the bright eyed smile that showed all of her teeth. "Mayor Queen, you've stood behind this initiative from the beginning and I'm asking you to continue to stand behind it's next phase as the Greater Beginning's Initiative." she reached over, and placed her hand on top of Oliver's, a move that caused Thea to stand, but Oliver held up his hand to his sister before turning back to Annabelle.

"I'm sorry Annabelle," Oliver pulled his hand from the woman. "As my Chief of Staff mentioned, this initiative was never for profit which is why it has helped pushed this city forward. Ray Palmer and my wife created this program thinking only of this city, thinking only of the people and that's what I stand behind. I will not offer my support of this initiative and I doubt my wife will either."

"Excuse me?" Annabelle seemed confused by that statement.

"Oh, you don't know?" Thea asked and the blonde turned to her seeing the smile come to her lips. "Well when Katherine Queen stepped down as CEO of Robin's Incorporate, part of her exit contract included a clause as a majority shareholder. That clause was negotiated by Jacob Robin's before his death. You see it gave his daughter his company, and in the event that she could not be CEO anymore, she was to keep a large portion of the company's shares that even the board could undo. You're gonna need her vote to get this passed and I doubt you will." she looked over to Oliver with a satisfied smile of her face. "And then there's Wayne Enterprises, so I doubt this little initiative will ever see the light of day." she turned back to Annabelle before standing to her feet. "This meeting is over, and from this day on all meetings between the Mayor and RI will be handled with your COO, Mr. Carroll." Thea walked around the table to stand above the woman. "If you touch the Mayor inappropriately again, I will hit you with the biggest sexual harassment suit you've ever seen." Thea smiled at the woman sweetly before turning to Oliver. "Ready?" Oliver looked over to his sister a bit shocked, but mostly impressed as he stood to his feet and turned to leave, not even sparing a glance to Annabelle as they left. Oliver looked over to his sister as they stood outside the restaurant waiting for their car.

"You know I could've handled that, right?" Oliver asked and Thea looked over to him and chuckled.

"I know, but I just had to." Thea said as the valet pulled the car in. "I've been wanting to tell that woman off for months now." Oliver pulled open the door for his sister who was still smiling and he just shook his head. He walked around to the other side to get in when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out, looking down to the number before quickly answering. "Hey, Katie, what's wrong?"

Katie found herself sitting on the bed, phone pressed to her ear now hesitating. Did she really call him to tell him about remembering some stupid stuffed animal?

"Katie?"

"Hi, I-" she looked down to the stuffed toy and just sighed. "I just wanted to call. I guess I have no reason. You're probably busy and I'm being weird, I'm sorry, I'll—"

"Wait, no I told you to call whenever you wanted and that includes random, no reason calls. I don't mind those, and I'm never too busy for them." Oliver said and the smile tugged at Katie's lips. _This man couldn't be this sweet all time,_ she thought.

"Ok, well even so, I think I mind taking away your time you should be dedicating to the city, so I'm going to hang up. I'll see ya later I guess." she ended the call with a shake of her head before tossing the phone on the bed. "Such an idiot," she looked over to the stuffed banana and sighed. "It's just a toy." she stood to her feet and headed for the bathroom when the sound of beeping caused her to stop. She turned, the sound coming from the laptop. She frowned before walking over and flipping it open. There was something blinking at the bottom of the screen, and soon Ari's twitter feed appeared and Katie frowned as the text seemed to be moving quickly. Tweets and chirps kept coming right after the other and Katie could barely read them, but it was when a picture appeared did she finally realize why everything was going crazy. It was picture of Oliver in some restaurant, sitting across from a woman who was holding his hand and smiling at him as he stared at her. Katie couldn't stop looking at the picture no matter how heartbreaking it was.

That was the Oliver she knew. The Oliver she recognized. The Oliver who said sweet things to her while staring lovingly at skinny blondes in public restaurants. She slaps the laptop closed and stands to her feet with a huff, unsure what to do.

Thea looked over to her brother who currently wore a big smile on his face as he looked out the window of the car. She couldn't help but smile as well. She knows how hard for him it was when Katie was gone. The pain and sadness he held onto without showing it to any of them. She could truly say that the day Katie was pronounced dead was the day a part of her brother died too. And then she came back as something evil that caused mayhem, before ending up in that coma. She was just glad that Katie coming back also brought the life back to her big brother's eyes. They'd only pulled in front of city hall when her phone beeped. She looked down to see numerous notifications popping up. She opened the first one and her mouth dropped opened.

"You have got to be shitting me." she muttered and Oliver glanced over to her as she looked to him before turning her phone for him to see the picture. His eyes widened as he grabbed the phone to get a closer look of the image of he and Annabelle at the restaurant, her hand holding his, and he cringed at the headline above it.

"Mayor Handsome becomes Mayor Cheater." he looks over to Thea who is just shaking her head. "What the hell is this? Who took this picture?"

"I don't know, but I'll try to get this article taken down." Thea says grabbing her phone and emailing the public relations department. She glanced over to her brother who turned to look out the window, before he quickly took out his cell phone and called Katie. He listened to the incessant ringing before it went to voice mail.

"Fuck," he pulled the phone from his ear and looked up to his driver. "I need to go home, now!"

"You think she saw the photo?" Thea asked and Oliver shook his head.

"She has a cell phone, and she has a computer." Oliver slid a hand across his face in frustration. "Thea if she sees this, and I don't get a chance to explain—"

"Hey, that's not going to happen. She's not going to leave." Thea tried reassuring her brother, but she's not sure it's working. She knows he's afraid of losing her again. When they pulled in front of the house, Oliver quickly jumped out, running inside, glancing around before heading up the stairs.

The bedroom door was cracked opened and he pushed it further only to find it empty. He walked over to the bathroom, but there was no one inside. Oliver turned, panic racing in his chest as he rushes down the hall peeking in each of the rooms before coming back downstairs. He looks over the rooms before coming into the kitchen where he finds Thea.

"Ollie, don't panic."

"Don't panic?!" Oliver says clearly panicking. "My wife is gone and I have no idea where she is." he turned around, pulling out his phone and pressing a single button.

Felicity let out a deep moan as Bruce's lips kissed and nipped along her neck and shoulder. She was currently propped up on one of the tables as Bruce's lips did wonders, his hands sliding up her thigh as his fingers dips under the elastic of her panties eliciting another moan she doesn't even attempt to suppress. This was definitely not supposed to be happening right now. He was supposed to be helping her with finding possible candidates for Oliver to vet for a new team.

"Whoa!" a voice said and Bruce and Felicity quickly untangled themselves from each other and turned to see Curtis now with his back turned to them. "That was definitely not the first thing I expected to see when I came down here." Bruce turned back to Felicity and sighed before the woman slid from the table, pulling her skirt down.

"Curtis, hey, hi, sorry you had to walk in on that," Felicity said looking over to the man, his back still turned. "You can turn around." Curtis reluctantly turned around looking between the pair. "Sometimes we get carried away, but we know that should absolutely not happen here. Don't we, Bruce?" she looked over to Bruce who looked over to her without a word, but his expression spoke for him, and she couldn't help the smile as she lightly swat his arm before turning to Curtis. "Right, so, I have some people I think could be good for the new team if you want to-"

"Actually that's not why I'm here." Curtis says walking over to sit behind one of the computers. "Oliver called me. Katie's missing."

"Wait, what?" Felicity looked over to Bruce whose expression suddenly went dark before he headed over to stand behind Curtis and Felicity followed. They both looked down to the screen to see a GPS search in progress. "Wait, does she have a tracker?"

"Oliver says he gave her a cell phone which I may have, against my better judgment, installed a locator upon his request. I thought he was being a bit paranoid, but maybe I was wrong."

"No, he's definitely being paranoid," Felicity says looking down to the location on the screen before turning and dialing Oliver's number. "Oliver, before you say anything, let me say that putting a tracking device in Katie's phone is beyond—" she paused and let out a sigh. "Yes, we know where she is and—" he interrupted her again. "And she's not running away Oliver. Sometimes people just need time to themselves and she deserves that too." she let out a huff. "No, I won't tell you where she is." Felicity ended the call and looked over to Bruce and Curtis who looked over to her and she just shrugged. Soon Curtis' phone rang and when he pulled it out, he actually looked a bit scared. "Curtis—"

"He's scares me."

"I scare you, remember?" Felicity said and the man looked over to her. "She obviously wants to be alone and we are going to give that to—" without a word, Bruce headed toward the elevator. "Bruce, don't—Bruce, just—" he wasn't listening as he stepped onto the elevator. Felicity let out a huff before turning back to Curtis who'd just typed something on his phone. "What did you just send?" Curtis stood to his feet and began backing away.

"No-nothing, just-" Felicity inched toward him and his eyes widened. "Felicity, why are you looking at me like that?"

Katie sat on a park bench, her eyes staring down to the ducks currently eating the bread crumbs she'd just tossed. She doesn't know how long she's been sitting out here, but she knows she just needed to get away from that house and that stupid picture she couldn't stop thinking about. For a minute there she truly did believe that Oliver had changed, but he was still that guy who'd always let her down in the end. She just hates that this time she really didn't expect it. Foot steps behind her tore her from her thoughts, and she turned frowning at the sight of Bruce.

"Bruce, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked glancing around before turning back to him. "How did you find me?"

"That doesn't matter, what matters is why you're here." Bruce says walking over and she stood to her feet and backed away from the man. "Robins-"

"No, I think how you found me matters more than why I'm here." she says when she hears more steps and when she turns, her eyes go wide at the sight of Oliver. "What—how the hell did you find me?"

"Robins, we were just worried about you. You disappeared and didn't tell anyone where you were going."

"Yeah, because I'm an adult and can come sit at the park when I get the urge!" she turned to Oliver who walked over to her, and she took another step back. "Stay the hell away from me. One of you tell me how you found me." Oliver let out a sigh.

"The phone I gave you earlier." Oliver says and Katie looks over to him in confusion as she takes the phone out of her bag.

"You tracked my phone?" she looked back over to the man. "Am I seriously just not allowed to come to the park by myself?"

"Of course you are, I just—" Oliver dropped his head, realizing he probably should've listened to Felicity. Instead he let his fear drive him to this insane moment he's not even able to explain.

"Robins-"

"You should go, Bruce." Oliver said and Bruce turned to him with a furrowed brown. "I can handle this, you can go." his tone left no confusing implications about what he wanted and so Bruce cast one final glance over to Katie before turning and stalking away. "Twinkie-"

"Don't call me that, you-" she growled in annoyance before throwing the phone on the ground and stomping it a few times before looking back over to him. "Just go away, I don't want to see you." she turned and sat back down on the bench and Oliver let out another deep breath as he realized from her words that she did see that picture and now she was upset. He knows he should turn around, let her cool off, but he can't. He can't walk away from this woman with her thinking that he would ever dishonor their marriage in anyway. And so he walked over and took a seat on the bench. She let out a huff before standing to her feet to flee.

"I know you saw the picture, but it's not what you think!" he called and she turned her darkened gaze toward him. He was finding that everyday she was back, he was able to read those emotions more clearly.

"So you weren't on some date with the CEO of my father's company?"

"No, absolutely not." Oliver says taking a step forward, but she once again backed away, and each time she did it, his heart ached. "It was a business meeting. That picture didn't capture the fact that Thea was sitting at that table as well." Katie shook her head turning away and looking back out to the pond. "It wasn't a date."

"Why was she holding your hand?" Katie asked turning back to the man. "Is there a lot of hand holding during your business meetings?"she rolled her eyes once again turning away, but she stopped and turned back to him. "You know I really believed it. This picture of us as the happy couple, where I loved you and you loved me and nothing else mattered. I believed it because I wanted it, but I guess that was a fantasy too, huh?"

"You don't believe that." Oliver ignores that pit in his stomach caused by the fear of her walking away from him. "Deep down, you know that's not true. You know that picture is bogus and you know that I love you, and you love me, and nothing else matters. That's not a fantasy. It's our reality." Katie dropped her eyes not sure what to believe. Her head and her heart were warring and she didn't know which one to follow. She took a deep breath before meeting his gaze.

"Oliver, I have a daughter, and we have Ari, so whatever this fear you have of me running away isn't going to happen. Sometimes I just want to be alone and you will have to be alright with that. You will just have to know that I will come back."

She was right, and he knew she was right, but for months she wasn't here. For five months her life hung in the balance. She's been back a week, and that irrational fear that he's going to lose her is still pulsing under his skin and he can't just ignore it and pretend that it's not there. She wasn't looking at him right now, her eyes over to the pond before she turns back to him.

Katie just shook her head. "I still need time to figure out what I actually feel about all of this because right now I'm so confused. It's just a lot, with you and these stupid pictures and freaking Jose Banana, I just—I need time."

This wasn't supposed to happen. That thought kept playing over and over in his head. Of everything she questions, his love for her should never be one of them. But she needed time and he would give it to her.

Oliver silently nodded. "Ok."

"I'm going to take a cab home." she doesn't wait for his response before she turns and leaves him there.

"Fuck!" he shakes his head about to go after her, when his phone suddenly rings. He agressively snatches it from his pocket. "What?!"

" _Uh, hey Oliver, it's Curtis, I was calling with good news."_

"What is it Curtis?"

" _Machin, I think I found him and his bomb."_

Oliver lets out a huff as he turned and headed back to his car. He really needed to hit something right now, and he thinks Lonnie Machin would be the perfect punching bag.

"I'm on my way."

When Katie returned back to the house, she heard rushed movement from upstairs. She quirked a brow as she went up the stairs where she saw a quickly moving Thea rushing into her room wearing only a robe. Katie eased over to the woman's doorway just as Thea plopped down in front of her vanity to do her makeup.

Thea looked up and smiled when she spotted Katie. "Hey there. I heard you caused a bit of ruckus."

"I just needed some air. I went to this pond I used to go to as a kid." Katie shook her head as she walked over to take a seat on the edge of Thea's bed. She looked over to the young woman, still not believing how much she's grown up. "I did find out your brother put a tracker in my phone."

Thea turned to her with slight smile. "Some would call it romantic."

"I mean if by romantic you mean psychotic, then yes."

"He's scared."

"I know that, I do and I would like to help him get over this fear that I'm just going to disappear."

"Well I don't think you can." Thea walked over to sit beside Katie on the bed. "Katie you were gone for a long time. Everyone had hope that you would wake up, but we all were afraid of the possibility that we would have to prepare for the moment it wouldn't happen. My brother, though he would never show it, desperately missed you. And now you're back and he's afraid something else will take you away from him." Katie turned away from Thea and sighed. "So you saw the picture."

"I did."

"And you know it's shit, right?" Thea asked and Katie closed her eyes and stood to her feet. "Twinkie-" Katie let out a snort and turned to the woman. "I get you hate it, but it's our thing ok. You're Twinkie, I'm Speedy, we have embraced our annoying nicknames. Katie that picture-"

"I know," Katie turned back to Thea and shrugged. " I don't know how I know or why I feel it so strongly, but I know that picture is bull shit."

"He loves you. Like, my brother is head over heels, over the moon in love with you."

"Annabelle Grey," Katie turns to Thea and folds her arms over her chest. Thea lets out a snort and stands to her feet. "Who is she, and can I hit her?"

Thea chuckled with a shake of her head. "Well I gave her a few choice words at that meeting. She just rubs me the wrong way, and when she's with Ollie she—" Thea stopped herself, turning to Katie who stared with a quirked brow. She should probably stop adding fuel to Katie's desire to hit the woman. "I've handled it. She and Ollie won't be meeting anytime soon."

Katie nods. "That's good to know I guess. I'm not even sure how I would even-" Robyn's cries echoed down the hall and Katie turned about to go to her, but she stopped and Thea watched her curiously. Katie stood there for a moment before turning back to Thea. "You should-" Thea nodded before hurrying out of the room to check on the child and Katie hated herself for it. She had no idea what this anxiety was that stopped her from going to that baby, but she knows she needs to get over it somehow. She remembers absolutely nothing about her life and yet she feels the strong connection to a child she hasn't even held yet.

With a huff of frustration, Katie continues down the hall, stopping at Ari's door and knocking. There was no response, and so she pushed open the door to find that the room was empty.

"Hey, she just needed a new diaper, what—" Thea stopped when she walked over to Katie, looking around the empty room. "You have got to be kidding me," Katie turned to Thea with a furrowed brow. "She snuck out again."

"What, she-" Katie went into the room, looking around before going over to the window. "Aren't there like guards here to watch her?" she looked back over to Thea who sighed.

"I'll call Oliver." Thea said turning and heading back to her room for her phone.

Katie once again scanned the room before noticing some papers on Ari's bed. She walked over sifting through what looked like notes and a picture, the name "Lonnie Machin" written on it. She flipped over the picture and saw an address.

She was ready for this, Ari thought. She wore her dark jeans, and black hoodie that was tossed over her head to cover her red hair, paired with the cute leather jacket she liked. She was totally unrecognizable. Over her face she wore the domino mask she'd snagged from the bunker the last time she was there. She did notice her palms were sweaty as she held the sais in her hand. She'd snagged her laptop from Katie's room when she came home just in time to see the notifications of the unexplained energy surge that was located in the middle of this abandoned warehouse. She knows she should call Oliver, but he was busy, being the Mayor and taking care of Katie, and he needed help whether he knew it or not. Plus this was her chance to prove how valuable she could be to the cause.

Ari took in a deep breath. "You've trained for this." which she had. She'd sneak out and meet with Nyssa who trained her in some sort of weird marshal arts she could never pronounce correctly. But she was good at it. Nyssa called her a natural. "You can do this." she heard some sort of beeping up ahead and she stopped the moment she saw the source. "That's a tricked out bomb," she quickly ran over letting her eyes scan over it. "Four bombs." she swallowed the nervousness in her throat. "It's fine, you can do this. You've been studying this guy and the materials, you can disarm this." she dropped her backpack on the ground and rummaged through it, glancing up to the time clock with a shake of her head. "Alright Felicity, lets see what your toys can do?" she inserted the flash drive before taking out her tablet and connecting. She froze at the sound of movements and grunting, and when she turned around, her eyes widened at the sight of The Green Arrow and Lonnie Machin falling from the ceiling. "Oh shit," she was definitely in trouble. She turned back to the bomb, figuring if she could disarm the bomb, maybe her punishment wouldn't be as bad. She began typing furiously, when something appeared out the corner of her eyes. She glanced up to see another guy, this one wearing a hockey mask. "The hell—" suddenly an arrow is shot into the bomb and when she turns she sees the Green Arrow punch Machin, knocking him out before stalking toward her. She begins backing away as she glances back to the screen able to see the functions that are controlling the bomb, and looking down to it she realizes it's going to take some time trying to disarm it.

"Move!" Hockey mask guy shoves Ari out of the way to get to the bomb and she stumbles back a bit.

"Hey, don't-" Ari doesn't get a chance to say anything before the Green Arrow grabs Hockey mask guy and tosses him away from the bomb before turning to her. She doesn't say anything, figuring he probably doesn't know who she is...at least she hopes. She glances back down to her and tablet, furiously typing, trying the disconnect the bomb from it's power source, when suddenly the screen goes black and the words, " **YOU'RE IN TROUBLE** " appear. Felicity must've beat her to it, Ari thought. She looks back up to the Green Arrow who stalks toward her, before Hockey mask guy jumps back up.

Green Arrow grabs him and pushes him into the brick column. "I thought I told you to stay off the streets!"

"It's my city, too!"

"You want to help?"

"Yeah."

"Then make a donation to the police department." The Green Arrow turns back to Ari, and stalks toward her. "And keep that elevated."

"Keep what elevated?" Hockey mask guy asks, and without a word, the Green Arrow turns, and shoots the man in the leg with an arrow eliciting a pained scream from the man.

Ari stands there too afraid to run away as he grabs her bag and shoves it into her arms. She doesn't even say anything when he grabs her arm and pulls her with him. She expected yelling, but he doesn't say anything. He's walking fast, his eyes ahead when she looks over to him. She wants to speak, to plead her case, but she's smart enough to know that will definitely not go over well. When they go outside, she spots his bike, but he suddenly stops.

"What—" before she can even ask the question, Oliver pushes her down before turning, not expecting to see his wife standing there staring at him. His eyes widen as she looks from him to the teen he's grasping and he sees the darkened glare that she turns to him.

"Let her go!" Katie growls still stalking toward them. Oliver doesn't say anything before he looks down to Ari and gives a nod before she stands to her feet and runs over to Katie. Katie brings her arms around the girl the moment she's close to her. She pulls back, frowning at the mask she's wearing before turning back to the hooded man who's still watching them. "You don't know me, but I promise you that if you come near her again, I will kill you." Katie grabbed Ari's arm and pulled her toward her car.

" _That was unexpected._ " Felicity's voice sounded from the comlink.

Oliver stood there frozen as he watched his wife stalking away from him and he's not even sure why he's stuck.

" _Are you ok?"_

He watched her car drive away, unable to ignore that ravaging of his insides. That fear that he was going to lose her. What if she finds out about the Green Arrow and isn't as receptive as she was before? What if she leaves him because of this?

" _Oliver, are you ok?"_

He wasn't. "Yeah, I'm fine." he turns and slides onto his bike, taking a deep breath.

" _Good, because your sister has been calling non-stop."_ Oliver lets out a sigh before cranking the engine.

"I'm late." he says peeling off.

Katie pulled into the driveway, and shut off the car. The drive was silent, because she honestly had no idea how to begin this conversation. She looked over to Ari who hadn't moved either.

"Ok, first you get to explain yourself." Katie says and Ari turns to her. Katie shakes her head before reaching forward, and pulling the mask from her face. Ari turns away, definitely not expecting this chance to actually be able to speak. She wasn't sure what to say. Her cousin doesn't know about the hero business so there's a big chunk of story she's not sure she can say. Is she supposed to lie? She doesn't really want to. She looks over to her cousin who's still awaiting an explanation.

Ari turns back to the house, and begins biting her nails, a nervous habit she thought she got over a while ago.

"I uh, wanted to help."

"Help with what, exactly?"

"That man I went there for, his name is Lonnie Machin. He's a bad guy." she turns back to Katie and nods. "He planted a bomb and was going to detonate it and hurt a lot of people."

"And how do you know this?"

"I've been following his story." she sighs. "Things he's done, and with a little minor computer hacking I was able to figure out that he was building a bomb. And then a carefully calculated algorithm designed to recognize heat signatures and I was able to find him and his bombs." Katie stared at the teenager with a frown as she turned away to look up to the house. She was once again at a loss with the computer hacking and the algorithms.

"So you went to that factory to disarm a bomb and to stop a bad guy?" Katie asked stilling trying to understand what the hell was happening. Her teenage cousin just told her she was out crime fighting and she's trying so hard not to have a mental breakdown right now.

"I was, but then the Green Arrow showed up and sort of saved the day." Ari says watching her cousin who hadn't turned back to face her. "He wasn't hurting me. He was gonna get me to safety. Probably yell at me." the car once again filled with silence. "Katie, really I just wanted to-"

Katie shakes her head before turning back to the girl. "You're fifteen. You're a child. You are never to be in rooms with bad guys and bombs and arrow wielding psychopaths." she held up the mask. "This is over. Do you understand me?" Ari turned away from her without a word. "Arianna Louise Locke, I recently found out that I am your Guardian. It is my job to keep you safe, it is my job to make sure absolutely nothing terrible happens to you, and I will ensure that." Ari still wasn't looking at her. "Look at me." Ari complied, seeing the seriousness in her cousin's eyes. She's seen a familiar look in Oliver's eyes, but there was something different in the gaze of her cousin. Something that tied itself to something inside of Ari and made her nod her head. "You are grounded indefinitely, we are going to strip your room completely of anything that needs a power source. You will be safe, and I will make sure of that anyway I have to. Get in the house." Ari silently turned, getting out of the car and rushing inside. Katie turned her eyes back to the domino mask, unable to not feel some kind of familiarity with the item. She held it up, letting her finger slide across it before shaking her head and getting out of the car. She headed toward the door, when one of the guards came from around the house.

He walked over to her. "Mrs. Queen—"

"You're Steve, right? Head of the security, guarding this house?"

"Yes, and I'm—"

"If Ari sneaks out of this house one more time and you or none of your men catch her, every last one of you will be fired, do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am." he says with a sharp nod. "I take personal responsibility. She's gotten creative with evading us, but we will get more creative."

"Well you better." Katie turns and stalks into the house, not expecting to see Bruce once again, this time sitting on her steps. "Why are you here?" she strips off her jacket and heads for the kitchen and Bruce follows behind her.

"Felicity was supposed to be babysitting but she got caught up and asked me to cover for her until she got here." Bruce watched as Katie looked around the kitchen, pulling open the cabinets in search of something. "What are you looking for?"

"Booze." she sees a cabinet that's locked and she looks at it before looking around the kitchen. "Where's the key?" she looks over to Bruce who shrugs. She rolls her eyes before seeing the tenderizer mallet and smiles.

Oliver arrived just in time, even though he was a bit out of breath as he stepped inside of the gala hearing his sister speaking.

"The mayor will be making his official statement on the anti-crime initiative at the upcoming press conference , but-"

Oliver took a step forward to make his presence known. "But he can say a few words now." he glanced over to the annoyed expression of his sister but continued. "The A.C.I. is an important step towards lowering crime in the city, but I'm not going to consider it without some major reform."

Reporters began closing in on the man, cameras and tape recorders held up. "What type of reforms?"

"Uh, to start, an investigation into allegations of widespread corruption within the police department." Oliver answered and Thea quickly stepped forward to grab her brother's arm.

"Ok. Mayor Queen will elaborate on all comments at the scheduled press conference this Saturday." she pulled Oliver away from the reporters. "Thank you all very much." once they were a good distance away, she leaned over to him. "You realize you just accused the police department of being corrupt at the police department gala?"

"I answered a question."

"Yeah, and you also just put the blame on the police department instead of taking responsibility for the city's crime."

"You know I'm taking responsibility."

"Yes, the other guy, but as the mayor, it looks like you're sleep walking, ok?" she shook her head. "Showing up late again is not helping that perception." Oliver let out a huff, turning away from his sister in search of a drink. "Ari?"

"She's fine. I was about to take of her home when Katie showed up." Oliver turned to the wide eyes of his sister.

"Did she—"

"Recognize me, no, but she did threaten to kill me if I came near Ari again." Thea let out a snort and Oliver turned to her and she just shrugged.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I just don't know what else you expected to happen in that moment. She doesn't know about your alter ego or your nightly adventures. So until she does I would try to keep Ari out of the abandoned warehouses at night. Twinkie would definitely kill you if something happened to her.

"Yeah, and I'd let her." Oliver sighed. "Look I'm sorry I'm late. Being the mayor gives me access to actionable Intel as "the other guy." It's a means to an end."

"Well, it didn't start off like that, Ollie. You wanted to become and then became the mayor to actually be mayor."

"Even if we weren't dealing with a corrupt police department, and we are, or an electorate that thinks I got all my political knowledge by binge-watching "The West Wing," or a teenager who wants to fight crime because of me, or a wife who doesn't remember that I'm her husband and is slowly pulling away from me, I still wouldn't be able to focus on being mayor, Speedy, because I'm flying solo as the other guy."

Thea rolled her eyes as she turned away. It wasn't the first time Oliver played the sympathy card to get her to return to the hood. "Ok, nice try. Talk to the controller about tax initiatives and councilman Garcia about sanitation. I also put the applications for deputy mayor on your desk. I'm going to go drink."

Bruce watched as Katie poured her third shot of tequila, tossing it back without hesitation.

"Maybe you should slow down."

"Maybe you should shut up," she replied with a deep voice he's sure was supposed to sound like him. "I've had a terrible day that ended with me finding my cousin-" she glanced over to Bruce, not sure she should reveal the whole crime fighting debacle. "I just want to drink and forget."

"Drinking doesn't make you forget, trust me I've gone down that road and back. Forgetting, avoiding, that's not how problems get solved." Katie looked over to him as she poured another shot and drank it.

"I guess we're going to find out."

Oliver came to the bunker to hide out, but he didn't expect to see Curtis and Felicity.

"What are you two still doing here?" He walked over to see Curtis working on something underneath one of the computers. "It's late."

"That's what I told her, but she's been complaining that the secondary processor keeps overclocking the GPU cache." Oliver looked over to the man in confusion before turning to Felicity.

"Must be nice to have someone down here who speaks Felicity." the woman laughed before standing to his feet. "I thought you were—"

"Babysitting, I was until tonight's series of unfortunate events happened. Bruce has the pleasure of playing the manny tonight." Oliver frowned but Felicity just shook her head. "Don't worry I just texted him. Robyn is asleep and Ari and Katie are back home." Oliver sighed turning away with a shake of his head. "Looks like the vigilante club is getting bigger." Oliver turned back to her with an unamused look as she handed him a folder. He flipped it open, looking down to a sketch of the Hockey masked man he'd been running into lately.

"What is this?"

"A little dossier on Wild Dog." Felicity said, and Oliver looked over to her.

"Wild Dog?"

Felicity chuckled. "Yeah, you know, because of the shirt. Silly dog just didn't really have the same ring to it."

"I suggested the "wild."" Curtis said proudly with a smile, but it dropped when he saw the unimpressed look on Oliver's face.

"Right, and why do I need a dossier on him?"

"I was thinking, instead of putting an arrow in him, you might consider bringing him into the fold." Felicity said leaning over the folder. "Ok, I know it's not the most enticing of recruitment pitch plans, but there are plenty of candidates willing to compensate for our ineffectual-slash- corrupt police department." she pointed to the monitors behind her showing the images of other vigilantes she'd found. "Evelyn Sharp, Mr. Ski Goggles. Still work-shopping that codename."

Oliver handed her back the folder. "I'm not—I'm not putting together a new team. Felicity it's fine, I'm not holding anything against you and Bruce for leaving. You don't have to do this."

"I think us leaving proves why this needs to happen. In case you haven't noticed, we're a little shorthanded. Plus you're juggling a lot right now, with Twinkie back, she kind of needs your focus too."

Oliver's jaw clenched, but he reigned in his annoyance. "I know Felicity, and I'm trying, I really am to be everything she needs me to be right now. I can do this. I can be the mayor and take care of my wife and kids while handling the assholes on the streets." Felicity took the folder and sighed. "I can handle this." he turned, looking over to the elevator, but paused, still not ready to go home. Felicity glanced over to Curtis, giving him a nod.

"Why don't I check on that processor." he says before walking back over to the computer. Felicity walks over to stand beside Oliver, her eyes looking over to the doors of the elevator.

"It's ok to admit that you can't handle this." Felicity said and Oliver sighed. "I guess that's one of those things you're going to have to see to believe, so I will leave it. We should talk about Ari-"

"You gave her access to the systems here, and now she thinks she has to help me."

"In my head, I wasn't thinking she'd go this far." Oliver turned a quirked brow toward her and she sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry, I can admit that was truly a bad decision. Curtis and I will work on restricting her access. That might not stop her though. She's actually pretty impressive." Oliver turned around and let his eyes look over the bunker.

"Twinkie said she thinks the Green Arrow is an idiot. Some guy out there fighting arrows with bullets." Felicity let out a snort and Oliver turned to her and she shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—" Felicity turned away from him and looked over to the Guardian's suit. "It's just she's always thought you were a bit of an idiot for doing all of this." she looked over to the man who looked at the suit as well. "She also thought you were brave. I mean when she found out about all of this, she hounded you about letting her help you." Oliver smiled remembering his wife's determination. "You should tell her about all of this." Oliver turned to Felicity who gave a smile. "I think she might surprise you." she nudged his arm. "Plus you're not going to be able to keep this from her for too much longer, unless you plan on telling her your mayoral duties keep you out all night." Oliver turned back to the Guardian's suit and sighed. Felicity's phone beeped and she looked down to the text message from Bruce. "Uh, Oliver you should get home."

Oliver turned to Felicity quickly, suddenly worried and she just shook her head. "Everything's fine, it's just—" she looked down to her phone and sighed. "There's an old friend waiting for you."

When Oliver returned home, he rushed into the house, looking around for any sign of trouble. He looked up the steps, before hearing a noise from the kitchen. He walked quickly, pushing through the door, stopping at the sight of the back door wide open.

Oliver walked over to see Bruce standing at the top of the porch. "Bruce?" Bruce glanced over to him before turning back around. When Oliver walked over, he stopped to see his wife lying in the middle of yard in the grass, staring up to the sky. "Drunk Twinkie?"

"Half a bottle of tequila and now she's looking up to the sky trying to determine the meaning of life." Oliver turned to the man who chuckled. "Have fun with that. Baby's sleep, teen is awake, but safe in her room." Bruce glanced back over to Katie and shook his head. "You know I think you're right."

"About what?"

"I think it's gone." Oliver turned to him, seeing the man still staring at Katie. "Today was rough on her, a lot happened, and she was angry and confused and sad and she just handled it." he let out a snort. "I mean besides the getting drunk part." he turned back to Oliver and sighed. "I think it's gone."

"Thanks Bruce." Oliver turned back to his wife before walking down the steps and going over to her. She didn't look over to him as he stood over her. Just continued to look up to the sky. "So I hear you've been drinking. Which seems impossible since the alcohol drawer is locked and Thea and I have the only keys."

She giggled. "Broke the lock." Oliver couldn't help the smile that tugged on his lips.

"Do you want to be alone?" he asked and her gaze shifted to meet his. He was wearing a suit, no tie, and he look exhausted. He still asked that question and she would always have the same answer never spoken aloud. Always a deflection or a lie.

"Your suit is going to get dirty." She deflected from actually giving an answer.

Oliver smiled before lowering himself to lie beside her. "I don't care." She has no idea why he even asks when he ends up staying no matter what she says.

Katie looked over to him, his face very close to hers so she had to turn away. She was slightly drunk and her inhibitions were definitely loose right now and she's afraid she's going to jump him soon. They laid there in silence, their eyes looking to the sky before Oliver turned to her.

"I'm sorry."

"For what exactly?"

"For everything. Tracking your phone was a total violation of your privacy and I really get that it's just—" she looked over to him. "This city is dangerous. And yes there are people here who love you, but there are also people who would want to hurt you or me by hurting you. I get that you will want to be alone, and I'm fine with that, but we're married, so when you want to be alone, let me know or if you don't want to let me know, let Thea know or Felicity, or Bruce, just someone who can be your back up in the event that something does happen." She turned away from his eyes and looked back up to the sky.

"That sounds fair."

"And the picture—"

"Grain of salt," she said still looking up to the massive dark space above her. "I talked to Thea, but I didn't have to."

"You didn't."

"Oliver Queen is my husband. We have a daughter together and we raise my headache of cousin." she turned her eyes to meet his. "And he loves me. I can't remember a damn thing, but I can feel it in my bones that all of that is true." He stared at her with that look that made her melt. His eyes dropped to her lips and she noticed it right before hers did the same.

"You can't kiss me now." his eyes suddenly flicked back to hers wondering if she was once again reading his mind. "I'm not that drunk, but I'm clearheaded enough to know I probably won't remember half of any of this tomorrow."

"You know, I don't think I've seen this version of drunk Twinkie. I think she's mellowing out with age." he said and despite herself, she smiled and looked back up to the sky. "A couple of more minutes and I'm taking you to bed." he suddenly realized how that sounded and thought he should clarify what he meant. "Not that way, I don't want to—actually I do, I really—" he glanced over to her to see her laughing at him and he couldn't help but to laugh as well.


	6. Taken

**Chapter 6**

**Taken**

_"Who so loves believes the impossible."_

_-Elizabeth Barrett Browning_

* * *

Silence swallowed the air inside of a large conference room as one CEO found herself in a place she did not anticipate.

Annabelle let her eyes sweep over the members of the board as they wait for her to speak. "We all knew this wasn't going to be an easy quarter. With more time-"

"More time?" Annabelle had to fight the sneer that threatened to escape her. It was the man who'd been plotting her downfall since she was named CEO. She slowly turned to her left to see Michael Carroll looking to her with a furrowed brow. The board decided to retain him as COO and since she wanted to ease into this position she didn't want her first decision to be that of against the board. "You know if I remember correctly from your little speech when you were applying for this job, you made promises of increase of profits, an improvement of image, and a better response to marketability and you promised it would happen in no time." Michael glanced around the table at the members of the board. "And for a second there, we thought you were actually doing what you promised, but the truth was, the world thought Katherine Queen was dead," he looked back to the woman whose glare only amused him. "They supported us because they thought they were supporting her."

"What are you trying to say Carroll?" Joshua asked and Michael turned that look of amusement to the man. Annabelle was Joshua's pick for CEO and since, he's backed every decision she's made without his usual argument.

"Well I'm glad you asked Josh." Michael replied turning to the other. "Katherine is alive. And now the city remembers we made her step down as CEO." he let out a snort. "The board made her step down for making us pull our support of Ruvé Adams who turned out to be the wife of a mass murderer, which was possibly the best thing she could've ever done and the board didn't see it. She wanted all of our eggs in the Oliver Queen basket, and look where that would've taken us." once again silence took over the room and Michael stood to his feet. "I would like to bring to the table the possibility of adding Katherine Queen to the board of directors, over which time she be voted back as CEO of her company." he turned back to Annabelle. "No offense Ms. Grey, but your name won't fix what's broken with this company. Your image has not helped and your recent fiasco with that picture of you and the Mayor certainly didn't help. Your name never will. Her's will."

Annabelle stood to her feet. "If I'm not mistaken, Queen isn't on the side of that building." her glare on Michael not wavering as she turns her eyes to the other members of the board. "It is common knowledge that Mrs. Queen's accident has made her unfit to serve on this board, much less be the CEO. I'm telling you if we stay the course, we will see improvement. Let's not worry until the end of the fourth quarter, and if by then-"

"By then we could be boarding up the windows!" Michael turned to his colleagues. "Take the time to really think about this. Letting her go was the mistake that could've buried us, not bringing her back will bury us." he gave a nod before returning to his seat. He glanced back to Annabelle, having to fight the urge to laugh at the look on her face.

After the meeting, Annabelle stalked out of the conference room, her high heels clacked on the linoleum and anyone in her path quickly cleared the way. She stormed into her office, slamming the door behind her and letting out a frustrated growl as she walked over to the mini bar behind her desk to pour herself a drink.

Her body was buzzing with anger at having to sit in that room and listen to that imbecile attempt to take what she deserved.

A knock at the door seemed to ignite her frustration. "What?!" the door slowly opened and appeared her annoying assistant.

"Uh, ma'am you wanted me to remind you about the press conference. It's starting in an hour." Claire said quickly before ducking out of the office. Annabelle grabbed the remote and turned on the television letting out a huff through her nose at the picture of Katherine Queen smiling as if taunting her.

Oliver was walking quickly in an effort to get away from his sister who hadn't stopped talking since they left the meeting with their public relations office on how the press conference needed to be handled.

"Oliver, the questions thrown at you today could get you into trouble if you're not careful. " Thea said walking and glancing down to her notes. She'd been given a sample of potential questions and she did not like them at all. "You're still a new mayor and your wife being connected to Damien Darhk will pose a lot of questions. Just keep it simple and-" Not paying attention, Thea ran right into Oliver's back. She took a step back and looked up to him to see that he'd stopped walking. "Hey, what-" Oliver turned to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You think I'm overreacting, but Ollie-"

"You're worried, and so am I. We have a narrative that can't have any holes, and I get that. No one can know the truth and they won't." Oliver turned, and pushing open his door to see that there was someone waiting for him.

Katie was sitting there in his office chair when she turned to him."You know sneaking in here wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. You may want to talk to your security about that."

"Twinkie, when did you-" Thea made to walk inside, but Oliver turned blocking her. She looked up to Oliver face and sighed. "You can't be late."

"I won't."

"History has told me that those words don't mean much." Thea looked around her brother to Katie. "We have to leave in a half an hour, please make sure he leaves on time." she turned back to her brother who just shook his head as she turned around and left. Oliver closed the door behind her and turned back to his wife. He smiled, because she was here, in this office. She stood behind him when he wanted to become mayor and the moment he was named he always wanted to share it with her.

"I should probably-" she began standing from his seat.

Oliver shook his head before waving a hand for her to sit. "Sit. I didn't expect to see you here today."

"Yeah, well I've been seeing so many articles about this stupid press conference, I just had to know why it was such a big deal." She turned to one of the pictures on Oliver's desk. It was of them from their wedding day and she hated she couldn't remember why she was smiling so widely. She wanted to remember that look of pure happiness. She sighed before turning back to Oliver. Part of the reason she came here was because there were some things she read that she hoped Oliver could explain. One name in particular. "Damien Darhk—" she turned back to Oliver who frowned and she noticed the slight tension in his jaw. "My name keeps popping up in connection to this lunatic and from what I read online, apparently I faked my death in effort to assist the police catch this guy." she waited for Oliver to confirm or deny the story or even to provide additional details. "I just don't get it. I was a doctor for a while, then I ran my father's company for a bit, and then I'm helping catch bad guys." he didn't say anything which only verified her suspicions that there was something more to the story.

"Damien Darhk was a bad man, who did bad things to this to city, and to us personally."

"The campaign Christmas party." Oliver turned away and she knew that meant he didn't want to talk about this. "Ok-" she stood to her feet and Oliver turned back to her with a furrowed brow. "You probably have some pre press conference ritual you usually do and I'm probably messing that up. I should go." she moved to leave, but Oliver moved to stop her. "You don't want to talk about this and I do. Apparently my little escapade happened right before my coma so there's a chance that this could explain why I can't remember anything." she looked up to Oliver's eyes and sighed and he could see her frustration, and honestly he understood it. He's just not sure how helpful the topic of Damien Darhk could be. He's spent the last five months trying to move forward and forget the hell that man caused him and his family.

"It's just a lot happened. A lot of things I would rather not trudge up." Oliver said and Katie turned away from him. "But I will." she turned back to him. "You know I forget sometimes just how strong you are. I forget that even though I try and even though I probably won't stop trying, I can't protect you from everything." Oliver sighed because he knew the information she wanted could possibly trigger something that brings that darkness back, but he also knows that she's determined to find out what happened to her and he wants to be the source of that information. He wants to show her the truth. "I'm going to tell you everything."

"Everything?" she was both surprised and skeptical. What she's learned so far is that the man in front of her would like to shield her from the things he's afraid could upset her. The problem is, he doesn't see that it's impossible to shield her from it.

Oliver gave a nod, before reaching forward and taking her hand. "Yes, tonight I will tell you everything." she looked at him for a moment as if to determine if he were being honest with her. His eyes were locked on hers, no rapid blinking or turning away. She believed him. She also really wanted to kiss him right now. She probably could and he wouldn't be upset about it. There was just still something so strange about this. This life she was plopped in the middle of. She felt like she really didn't belong here. That this man wasn't truly her husband and this life didn't really belong to her. So she pulled her hand and turned away.

"You're going to be late if you don't leave now." she turned back to Oliver with a smile. "You've never been on time for anything. It's one of the traits you've don't seem to have grown out of."

"That's not true. I've actually gotten a lot better. Plus you've kind of been the reason I've been late most of the time." he watched her eyes widen with amusement at the accusation and he couldn't help but smile.

"I would refute that, but I guess you actually would know more than me." she replied before moving around the man. "I should try to sneak out of here."

Oliver turns to follow her. "You know you don't actually have to sneak in or out of here." and he heard her chuckle. "People would actually be happy to see you here." she got to the door and stopped, but she didn't turn to him. "Twinkie-" he heard her snort as she turned to face him as she leaned her back against the door. "You know I'm probably going to do that a lot." he walked over, to close the distance between them, but then she held a hand to stop him, to keep some space between them that she could use for holding onto clarity he usually sucked out of the room when he was close to her. "You know you finally realized that you are not the things that was done to you." she looked at him for a moment, dropping her head as the words tugged something inside of her.

"I don't think that's true." she looked up to meet his eyes. "I think I just got really good at hiding it from everyone and maybe myself. Too many things were done to me Oliver that are now apart of me. I can pretend that it's not there, but it usually shows it's face at some point." she turned around, and opened the door, pausing before actually leaving. She glanced back to him. " Good luck at the press conference." Oliver silently nodded watching as she ducked out of his office. He actually couldn't get over her words, because he thinks they're the truth. Maybe his wife carried around the terrible things that happened to her and just never shared them with him.

Oliver told himself to focus, and yet as he sat in the car waiting for his sister to come get him for the press conference, he couldn't stop thinking about his wife. He couldn't stop thinking about the darkness she carried from her past. He thought about his own darkness, about his own past and how no matter how far he gets, it's always right there on his heels. Maybe he was ignoring it as well, pretending as if it were all just a messed up dream. There was a knock on the window and Oliver sat up and turned.

Thea opened the door quickly, and a bit out of breath as if she'd run to the car. "It's time." Oliver quickly slid out of the car.

"What's going on?" Oliver asked walking along his sister who was walking quicker than usual.

"Oh nothing, just that damn picture of you and Annabelle still working it's way through the internet." she pulled out her phone and Oliver looking down to the picture that was now photo-shopped with both of them practically naked. He let out a huff. "Expect questions about this as well."

"She's not here is she?"

"Absolutely not, and if she does decide to make an appearance, I will have her escorted off the premises." Thea shook her head. She hoped it didn't get that far. "Just always circle back to you love your wife, she's back and she's fine."

"I do love my wife, she is back, but I'm not completely sure she's fine." Oliver said and Thea abruptly stopped and turned to him.

"What happened?" she asked, focus now shifting to concern.

"Nothing, just it's strange, but she's actually sharing more with me about how she's feeling about things. Her past, which she rarely did before." Oliver turned away, looking up to the stage that was set up just in front of the bay. The crowd was thick with reporters and civilians and he let out a sigh. "I'm going to tell her the truth." Oliver turned back to Thea who stared in confusion. "About everything. Its the same realization I came to years ago. If I want her to be honest with me, then I have to do the same with every aspect of my life. I vowed that to her the day I married her. Probably even before then." Thea saw the certainty in her brother's eyes and gave a nod.

"Ok," she let out a breath before turning back to the stage. "I'll let them know you're ready."

Katie chewed on the finger nail of her thumb as she looked through the tinted windows of the crowd across the street near the bay.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea." Katie glanced over to her driver who was also her security guard. "When there are crowds like this, I need more of my guys with me." he turned and looked over to the woman who still kept her eyes out the window. "Which you don't care about."

"I don't, Steve," she said turning to the man with a half smile before holding out her hand. He let out a sigh before handing her a baseball cap and sunglasses. She slipped the hat over her head and pulled the hood of her jacket up as well, hiding her hair inside. She turned back to the man and pointed a finger. "You stay far enough so people don't get suspicions, but close enough to save me in case this is a stupid idea." She turned and stepped out of the car. She slipped on the sunglasses before running over to sift through the crowd. Soon Oliver's voice filtered through the air.

"...and I know you have questions. I know most of you are here to ask those questions, but I think I should remind you all of one thing." Oliver eyes washed over the crowd of reporters and concerned citizens. "Our city has endured it's share of hard times, has faced monsters who attempt to destroy what we have all built in this city. My wife is an example how despite how harsh reality is, we can still come back strong."

Katie watched as he continued to speak, a smile on her face. It was the strength in his voice, the way his words tied around you and made you believe them. Oliver Queen was Mayor and she actually thinks he may be good at the job.

"And with that I will begin taking questions-" no questions could be asked as the popping of gunfire elicited screams and cries from the crowd. Katie felt a hand grab her arm and when she turned, she saw Steve who nodded for her to follow him. Katie's eyes turn back, searching for Oliver. Too many people are running and screaming for her to see him, and she panics. She pulls from Steve's grasp, turning fully and letting her eyes scan the crowd, and that's when she sees him. One of the men holding a gun run to him and he punches him, but more are coming and Katie pushes her way through the crowd to get to him. She tries to keep her eyes on him when she sees him punch another guy, and he looks as if he's about to keep fighting, but he stops and lifts his hands in surrender. Two armed men grab Oliver's arm and begin pulling and Katie furiously tries to push through the crowd to get to him. A SWAT truck pulls, tires squeaking as it comes to a stop. Soon Oliver and a couple of other people she doesn't know are pushed into the back of the truck. The doors had only slammed closed when Katie was finally close enough and when it pulled off, she ran after it as if she could even catch up. She stumbled to a stop when the distance had gotten too far.

"Stop," she muttered her labored breaths coming out quick and jagged. She saw the back of that truck hoping her words could some how manifest themselves into reality...but they didn't. The truck kept going...Oliver inside.

"Mrs. Queen," a breathless voice spoke, but Katie didn't turn around. Her eyes were locked on the strip of road ahead of her, the truck now gone, and the panic filling her chest was growing. "Mrs. Queen-" a hand came to her arm and she realized the voice was speaking to her. She turned to see Steve who was breathing heavily too. Her eyes turned behind him as she saw the crowd now staring at her. She touched her head, the hat now gone and her hair a frizzy mess from running. She dropped her hand to her sides. "Mrs. Queen we need to leave." She couldn't turn away from the crowd and they couldn't turn away from her. She felt the need to say something.

Soon Thea pushed through the crowd despite the protests of her own security, rushing over to Katie, taking her hands. "Hey," Katie's eyes weren't pulled from the crowd of people who seemed too surprised at the string of events that lead to this moment,

"I-" Katie's voice was working against her as emotions ravaged her insides. "I need to find Oliver." she turned around, finally meeting Thea's eyes. "We have to-"

"We are. Look, I'm going to talk to the police, but I will meet you back at the house." Katie nodded before turning and continuing on toward the car with Steve. She only stopped when a man walked over, and unsure who he was took a slight step back, but soon noticed Steve didn't hold the same uncertainty.

"Hey, you alright?" the man asked, his eyes on Katie, and she turned back to him with a furrowed brow. He was an older man, probably around her dad's age and the way he looked at her meant she probably knew him too. "You don't remember me do you?"

"I don't, I'm sorry, but I need to-" she turned to Steve. "We need to get home to the kids." she turned back to the man and just gave him a nod before turning and rushing back to the car with Steve.

Thea walked over to stand beside the man as they watched Katie and Steve step into the car and drive away. "I didn't know you were back, Quentin."

"Yeah, Oliver paid me a visit, told me about the press conference. Didn't know know it was going to go this sideways though." he looked over to her and she sighed before turning back to the crowd. "I'll meet you at the bunker." she gave a nod before stepping forward to hopefully give some reassuring words.

When they pulled in front of the house, there were already a few squad cars parked out front. Officers mulled around the front of the house, along with a few of their personal guards. Katie didn't even let the car come to a complete stop before she jumped out of the car and rushed inside of the house. She stopped at the sight of an officer standing at the base of the steps talking to Hank.

Both turned to her, but Hank stepped forward. "Mrs. Queen-"

"Where are they?'" no pleasantries needed, only reassurance.

"Ari and Robyn are both upstairs. I've secured both levels of the house before they were permitted inside. I have a guard upstairs watching over both of them. So far everything has been quiet."

"Mrs. Queen-" Katie turned, once remembering again that was her name. She looked over to the man who took a step forward. "I am Captain Frank Pike with the SCPD. I want to assure you that we are putting all of our efforts into finding your husband and the others who were taken today."

"Captain Pike, all your efforts should be out there actually finding them, not here." Katie says, trying to ignore the pins and needles feeling under her skin. She could feel herself getting more and more nervous at the thought of what could be happening to Oliver right now. "I need you out there finding him."

"And I will, but right now I would like to ensure you and your children's safety. I would like to move you all to a safe-house, and—"

"No, that's not happening." She dismissed immediately. "I'm not leaving this house, and neither are those children." she turned to Hank. "I'm pulling the guard you have upstairs." It wasn't a question or something she needed a response to, and so she moved around him and went upstairs.

Hank turned back to the Captain, a smirk on his face. "As I was saying, the boss isn't going to go for the whole hiding thing. Me and my guys have a handle here. You and your guys can focus on going out there and finding the Mayor of this city." Pike scoffed as he glanced up the steps before turning and stalking out the door.

When Katie hurried upstairs, she went straight for the nursery. She couldn't explain the pull and need of her body to hold that baby in her arms and verify with her own eyes that she was alright. And yet when her feet appeared in front of that door, she froze unable to simply push open the door and walk inside. Despite that pull, there was still the twinge of fear that kept her away.

"Katie?" the woman turned to Ari who rushed forward, throwing her arms around her in a hug. "Is Oliver—"

"He's-" Katie wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. She didn't want to scare the girl and say the wrong thing. She wanted to say something reassuring, and yet the pessimist in her couldn't think of a single thing to say. Which she should. She was a guardian...a parent. And so she said the only thing she knew. "The police are doing everything they can to find him." Ari pulled back and looked to Katie whose words didn't hold their usual certainty. She had the feeling that even her cousin didn't hold the most confidence in the SCPD. "We just have to-" she sighed turning away. "Wait."

"Is that what you want?"

Katie looked back to the girl. "What else is there to do?" Ari turned away, biting the corner of her lip. She was about to do something that was either completely stupid or totally genius. At the moment she wasn't sure, but she was still going to do it. "Ari?" the teen turned back to her cousin.

"What if I told you that you didn't have to to wait? What if I told you that you could actually help find Oliver?"

"Yeah, I doubt the police let people just help on their cases."

"I wasn't talking about the police." Ari replied before glancing down the hall to make sure the coast was clear. She turned back to Katie, before leaning in. "Right now there are people who I bet are looking for Oliver, and I'm certain they would let you help." Katie continued to stare at the girl in confusion, before a sudden thought came to her and she shook her head.

"You're not talking about that Green Arrow guy, are you? Because Ari, I'm not letting you—"

"You don't have to. We can stay here, but you have to go." Ari turned and rushed into her room and Katie stood there for a moment before going after her. She walked over to the door to see Ari scribbling something on a piece of paper. "All you have to do is follow everything I write on this sheet of paper." when she was done, she held out the paper to Katie who didn't even reach for it.

"Ari—"

"It doesn't make sense, but it will. You just need to go. Please just trust me." Ari watched as Katie slid a hand over her face. "This is your opportunity to help him." Katie looked back over to the girl. "Right now he's in trouble and needs to be saved. This is what you guys do. You don't remember, but it's what you two do. When you're in trouble, he saves you, and when he needs saving, it's you who saves him." Katie's eyes drop to that slip of paper. Nothing the girl was proposing made sense. Going out in search of some psycho in a green hood to help her find Oliver sounded insane, and yet her hand reached forward and took the slip of paper. She read over Ari's instructions before looking back up to the girl. "Trust me."

Katie slipped the piece of paper into her pocket. "You do not leave this house, do you understand?" Ari nodded. "Keep an eye on Robyn, and if at any point something feels wrong, you grab her and get the hell out of here, ok?"

"Ok." Ari once again threw her arms around Katie in a hug, and Katie hugged her back. "Just find him and bring him back." Katie pulled from the hug and looked down to the girl before doing something she probably shouldn't have done.

"Ok, I will bring him back." she wasn't supposed to say that. She wasn't supposed to give the girl hope, and yet she felt with every fiber of her being that she would do anything and everything possible to make it happen. She turned and headed back toward the stairs, once again stopping in front of the door to the nursery. That tug on her heart getting stronger, and yet she simply places a palm on the door, making another silent promise.

When she came back downstairs, she glanced around seeing that there was no one around.

"I cleared everyone out," she turned at Steve's voice as he came from the kitchen. "I figured you and your family could do without a bunch of people hanging around your house." Katie gave a nod as the man neared. "We've got all possible entrances covered."

"Has there been any news from the police?"

"Not yet, but I have a friend over in the precinct and I told him to give me a call when they found out something." Katie turned away, and Steve saw the slight worry in her eyes. "Ma'am, your husband is strong and he's a fighter, I'm sure he's going to be alright?"

"Do they know who did this?" she asked, shifting the topic. She needed to focus on something that could help her find him.

"Not yet, but they're working tirelessly to find something." Katie turned away at the words taking a couple of steps away. She glanced over to the doors, and the windows, something Steve seemed to notice. "Ma'am, you have my word, me and my men are here to keep you and your family safe." she turned back to him, his features, stern with certainty.

"I believe you," she walked over to stand in front of the man before releasing a breath. She was actually going to do this. "I have to leave." the guard stared in a silent moment hoping to gather if she were serious or not. "Like right now, and I will need to go alone." he still didn't say anything and neither did Katie. "Ok," she turned and headed for the door.

"You're serious?" she stopped and turned back to him. He let out a deep breath before taking a careful step toward her. "You do understand my job ma'am, don't you?"

"I do, I also understand that at this moment I don't require your protection," she glanced up the steps before turning back to him. "Ari, and Robyn are here, and you will protect them." she once again turned for the door.

"I get it." he said and Katie let out a huff from her nose. He wasn't going to let this go, which was strange, seeing as she believed she was actually his boss. She turned back to him. "You don't remember a lot about your life. I've been informed that certain aspects about your life may confuse you. Ma'am, men showed up today and took your husband, and we're unsure about if they want some kind of ransom, or if their intention was to somehow draw you out."

"You think this is about me?"

"I think that a week after your return, your husband is publicly kidnapped." Steve was being blunt and he knew it, but he also knew sometimes with this job, his clients needed to hear the truth. "This could be about you, or maybe it's about him. Maybe this is all someone's twisted game. But in all of it, I have one job. I protect you and your family, and you need to let me do that."

"Steve—"

"The last time you disobeyed my request for protection, you disappeared and we couldn't find you." Katie looked at the man in confusion. No one had told her about any disappearance. It was only adding to her fear that there was just so much of her life she just doesn't know. "We thought you were dead. Please, just stay here, let the police do their job while you and your kids are here safe."

It was sound advice. It was actually smart advice, but she let her thumb glide over her wedding ring. Rationality escaped her. She remembered Ari's words. This is what they did. When she's in trouble, he saves her. Right now he needed saving and she was going to help do it.

"How often have I listened to a request of yours?" he sighed because he just knew it was hopeless trying to convince her.

"Never."

"Protect those kids. I'll be back." she once again turned, and this time he didn't stop her.

Thea was nervous. For a variety of reasons really. Her brother was just kidnapped in public. Katie appeared out of no where to witness the entire thing. City Hall was a mad house. She actually had to turn off her cell phone. Right now she stood in the bunker. The place she promised herself she would stay away from. For the past couple of months, she was successful. Honestly Thea couldn't feel more at peace than she has in these past couple of months. It was just freeing to worry about normal things, like work or guys asking her out on dates. She couldn't help but think that putting down that mask was the best decision she'd ever made and now she thinks she may be forced to put it back on.

"Are you sure Bruce wouldn't make it back in time?" Thea asked once again from behind Felicity who spun her chair around to face her. Felicity saw Thea's nervousness, and yet right now she was the only hero around to save their friend.

"Thea I'm sorry, Bruce had some work emergency he didn't give me details about. I was actually going to harass him about it before all of this happened. I've texted and he says he's not close enough to help on this." Thea sighed, her eyes turned back to the display case that held the Speedy suit and she felt the nervousness prickling at her skin.

"Thea-" Quentin walked over to her and she turned her eyes to him. "I get it."

"You don't. I'm not a vigilante. I am—I am a normal version of me. And I think just after everything that happened with Katie, I—I really needed to know that life like this was even possible, and now that I do, I—I don't want to give it up."

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I-I get where you're coming from." Quentin shook his head because he truly understood Thea's reluctance. "I do. I lost my job, I lost my girl, both my daughters have moved hundreds of miles away, and, you know, I just wanted to hit pause on the world, you know?" he dropped his head because he didn't want to be reminded of the pitfalls of his life. "Yeah. But then I, uh- you know what, I listened to Oliver's speech. You know, that's when I realized that I- I can't do that. I can't hit pause on the world. I got to get on with my life, you know? Even if that life isn't what I want it to be." Thea once again turned to that display case knowing Quentin's words were true.

"Uh, guys, I think another option just walked through the door." both turned to Curtis who was staring intently at the monitor before they went over to see what had him so entranced. They all stared wide eyed at the sight of Katie walking into the back entrance of the upstairs offices.

"What is she doing here?" Thea asked and suddenly a thought flitted into all of their minds and they turned to each other. "Do you think she remembers?" they turned back to the screen and saw Katie spinning around in confusion as she looks down to a sheet of paper.

"She looks confused as if she doesn't know where she is." Felicity said unable to tear her eyes from the screen.

Quentin shook his head. "I don't think she knows what this place is."

"If she doesn't know, then how-" Thea sighed because another metaphorical light bulb appeared over her head. "Oh Ari, what did you do?"

"Should we go up?" Felicity looked between Quentin and Thea, both unsure how to answer. "I mean she's here."

"Yeah she is, but there's a lot to explain down here, and I think that's a conversation Oliver wanted to have with her." Thea replied before pulling out her cell phone. "I'll call her to try to get her leave." Thea had only powered on her phone when her eyes went back to the screen just as Katie turned and took a step toward the hidden wall that lead to the elevator.

"I think you're too late." Curtis said and soon the wall moved revealing the elevator. When it opened, they all watched as she stood frozen not moving an inch. "Do you think she'll—" Katie walked into the elevator before Felicity could answer the question. "Never mind." they all jumped to their feet and walked over to the elevator and impatiently waited for the door to open.

"How do we handle this?" Thea asked.

"The truth," Felicity replied firmly as they stared at the doors. "She can handle the truth."

"And if she can't?" Quentin asked, but the doors opened before he received an answer.

All four of them held their breath as they looked upon the elevator to Katie who looked back to them with an expression none of them could decipher. They all just stood there waiting for some kind of reaction, and yet silence swallowed the air around them. Someone needed to say something, and so Felicity took a step toward her.

"Hi, I'm sure you have questions." Katie turned to the blonde before her eyes shifted to the bunker behind her. She silently took a few steps forward, her eyes taking in the place she didn't expect when those elevator doors opened. Her eyes looked over, suddenly spotting the hero suits all proudly on display, and her feet moved of their own accord until she was standing there looking up to them. She let her eyes scan over each suit until they landed on the one placed in the middle. It was the familiar green leather she'd seen worn on the stranger—at least she assumed he was a stranger—only a few nights before. To the right of the suit, was one that made Katie frown and take a step closer. It was black, with yellow embellishments, her eyes looked up to the domino mask and she gasped suddenly feeling her heart begin to ram in her chest.

"Hey," Thea appeared beside her, bringing an arm around her and Katie whipped her eyes to her, before pulling from her grasp. "I know this is a lot, and it probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but-"

"Oliver is the Green Arrow." Katie turned back to the suit. It wasn't as confusing to put together once she walked into bunker and saw Thea and Felicity and the stranger from the bay. "The articles online about vigilantes roaming around this city stopping the bad guys, it's him-" she turned back to Thea and then looked over to Felicity. "It's all of you."

"It was." Thea replied. Katie turned away, walking further inside, wanting to see everything. This place felt familiar.

"I've been here before, haven't I?" she asked and they watched as she moved around, her eyes trying to take in every detail. "I-" there was a sudden beep from the computer beside her and Katie turned to see Felicity and Curtis hurry over to sit. Felicity began typing before looking over to Thea and Quentin. "What is it?" Felicity turned to Katie before standing to her feet. "Oliver, do you know where he is?"

"Yes, but-"

"Tell me." Katie took a step toward the woman, moving around her and looking down to the computer.

Felicity once again glanced over to Thea and Quentin who wasn't sure how to proceed. She glanced over to Katie. "He's just a few miles outside of the city in a warehouse here," Felicity pointed on the map, and Katie looked at the spot for a moment before standing up straight and heading over to the elevator .

"Wait!" this time it was Quentin who spoke and Katie stopped and turned to him. "You can't just go there."

"Actually, I can."

"No, you can't. Katherine Queen just can't show up in some warehouse in the middle of nowhere to save her husband. Too many questions would come up."

Katie shook her head. "I don't care about questions. I care about Oliver and right now he needs help and I can help him." Her eyes looked around the bunker once more and she sucked in a sharp breath. "I can help him."

"Memories or not, you're still as stubborn as ever, aren't you Doc?" Quentin walked over to her and she watched him warily. "Everyone in this room knows there's nothing we can do to stop you from helping him, but to do that you're also going to have to protect yourself."

"And how do I do that?" he looked at her for a moment before turning around. Katie followed his eyes to the display of suits, his eyes lingering on the one that tugged on something inside of her. She took a step forward to stand beside him before something clicked. "Wait, did I wear that?" she looked over to the man who turned back to her and gave a nod. She walked over to stand in front of the suit once again before reaching out and placing her hand on the glass that encased it. Thea, Felicity, Curtis, and Quentin all walked over to stand behind her.

"Once upon a time Oliver had an idea." Felicity spoke softly. "What if someone finally stood up against the bad guys in this city? What if someone took a stand and showed them that they couldn't win. This city needed protection and Oliver took on the task. Along the way, he drafted a few strangers that became his family. We protect this city." Felicity walked over to stand beside Katie who turned to her. "You protect this city." Katie's gaze once again is pulled to the suit. "You don't remember her, but she was important. She was this city's Guardian. Quentin was right, Katherine Queen can't show up in some factory in the middle of nowhere, but the Guardian..."

Katie turned back to the suit before unzipping her jacket. "Tell me everything about the people who have Oliver."

Oliver's ears were opened the moment the van came to a stop. Their heads were covered with bags unable to see anything or anyone. They were pulled into a building, some place big from the echo he heard. Soon he was tied to a chair before hearing a voice he'd never heard before and yet he knew exactly who it was. Tobias Church.

Church moved past them before stopping beside Oliver. "Gentlemen and lady, this is not personal. I know it feels personal, but it is not. You are all here as a means to an end. I finally figured out a way to make politicians useful." Oliver's brow furrowed when he realized what this was all about.

"You want the Green Arrow?" Oliver asked and Tobias turned to him before pulling the bag from his head.

"Ooh. Your honor." Oliver squinted a bit when the light assaulted his eyes before turning to Tobias.

"Listen, the Green Arrow is not coming. You're wasting your time."

Church chuckled. "Just for the fun of it, how is it that you know so much about Mr. Arrow?"

"I have it on pretty good authority that he's tied up right now."

"Are you his buddy?" Church's skepticism showed in his tone.

"I have connections, and I-listen. You let these people go, and I'll make something happen. Do we have a deal?"

"No, we most certainly do not. I don't need your help, Mr. Mayor. Do you think I would go to all this trouble without a plan?" Oliver turned away and sighed before turning back to the man.

"Yeah. But that's because I think you're stupid." Tobias shoved the bag back over Oliver's head.

"Take Mr. Queen to a quiet place and teach him some manners." Church threw one final punch to Oliver's head before one one of his thugs grabs his chair and pulls him away.

Katie stepped off of the bike and followed behind Thea as they neared the warehouse. Thea ducked behind a tree, peering over to the building in search of the best way to get inside to Oliver's location. Katie watched her closely. The sudden change in her demeanor the moment she pulled on that suit and mask. Katie also noticed the reluctance in her eyes and she figures the only reason she's here was more the be her back up.

"You didn't have to come." Katie said and Thea looked up to her in confusion. "You don't want to do this, I can tell."

"Doesn't really matter what I want right now. My brother is in trouble and I—"

"I got it from here." Katie said suddenly walking over to Thea and peering behind the tree.

"I'm not leaving you here to do this alone." Thea watched Katie who didn't seem to be paying attention to her objection. "Twinkie, I'm not—" Katie turned back to her with a sharp look. "I can't leave you to do this by yourself."

"You can, because it does matter what you want. What I want is inside of that building and I will do what I need to get him back." Katie shook her head. "I don't remember a lot, but I can tell from the look in your eyes right now that this life wasn't something you wanted to jump back into." she took a step toward Thea and smiled. "What you want does matter, now go. I'll save the idiot." and with that Katie moved around her and Thea stood there not moving.

" _Are you sure this is a good idea?"_ Felicity's voice spoke from the comlink. " _This—in essence— is kind of like her first time with the mask."_ Thea turned, peaking once again from behind the tree, only she didn't see Katie.

A smile came to Thea's lips as a sigh of relief escape her. "She's got this."

Oliver was punched again by Church's thug, who as it turns out was an SCPD officer.

"I didn't vote for you."

"That's ok. I ran unopposed." Another punch. Oliver tasted the zing of his blood before spitting it out. "Mayor Handsome," they call you." he chuckled as Oliver turned back to him. "Not for long, though."

Oliver's dark gaze was fixed on the man. "If you hit me again... I'm going to kill you."

"You're delusional. Your zip-cuffed to that chair." Oliver had long gotten out of the zip ties, and brought his hands up to show the man that he was free. The officer stared in confusion before quickly throwing a punch, but Oliver jumped to his feet grabbing the chair swinging it to block his fist. Oliver swung the chair once more knocking the man to the floor before twisting his arm into the legs of the chair. With a final jerk of the chair, the officer's arm breaks with a snap eliciting a shriek of pain. Oliver reaches down, jerking the man up and his neck under his arm. "Please...don't," his pleas should reach something in Oliver. They should remind him of his oath of not killing and yet his mind remembers how said oath has caused so many problems in the past. That oath lead to problems that took his wife away and right now he would never let that happen again.

"I'm sorry, but no one can know my secret." and with a jerk of his arm he snaps the man's neck before letting him fall to the floor. He heard footsteps figuring more of Church's men were coming and so he reached down, grabbing a sharp piece of the broken chair before turning about to throw it, but his entire body seized in shock the moment she walked into the room.

"Twinkie," she scoffed before quickly grabbing two blades from the harness attached to her vest, sending them flying to the two men who ran toward them, knocking them off their feet. Oliver quickly ran over and knocked them unconscious. She turned back to Oliver who walked over to her, his eyes unable to not just stare in awe. "How—"

"Not the time." she said before turning and skulking away. Oliver let out a sigh figuring a lot has happened since he was taken which means he probably has a lot of explaining to do when this was all over. He quickly went to follow after her.  
Oliver found her peering over the side of second level, looking down to see Tobias using his free time to rough up the other hostages that were taken. She stopped when she noticed a red laser, dropping down to look at it.

"Hey, careful—" Oliver ran over, dropping down beside her. "They have wires. They've been rigging explosives to set up a kill cordon."

Katie looked over to him in confusion. "A what?"

"If we try to get down there, we're gonna blow everything up." Katie turned back, looking down to see those men and woman tied up and being hurt.

"How do we-" she looked over to Oliver. "We can't just leave them there." more footsteps and they both stood to see more of Church's thugs running toward them. Katie grabbed more blades as Oliver went to attack. She struck two guys when the other went for his gun. She rolled away out of the line of fire, just as Oliver came up behind the gun men, knocking him from behind before grabbing his side arm and shooting him. He turned to Katie.

"We have to come back for them, let's go."

Oliver wasn't sure what to make of Katie's silence. When they arrived back to the bunker, Katie slid off the bike and headed inside.

"Twinkie, wait—" she didn't stop walking and he huffed before quickening his steps to catch up to her. When she walked inside, Felicity and Thea stood there looking over to her, but both scattered when Oliver came in rushing after her. He stopped and watched as she approached a nearby table where she pulled off her mask and sat it down. "We should talk."

"About getting the rest of those people out of there." she didn't turn to him as she reached behind her to unclasp the holstered blades from around her waist. "That's what we talk about now." she finally turned to face him before walking over and unexpectedly grabbing his chin and tilting it to the side. Her hands began sliding down his arms, attempting to feel if anything was broken or fractured. "Anything broken?" Oliver would've answered but he was now hyper aware of the amount of physical contact happening right now. In all of the time since her return, this was the most physical contact he'd had with her. Her hands dropped now, pushing and tugging on his ribs and he groaned when she pushed a sore spot. She met his eyes, now realizing he hadn't answered her question. "Oliver-" his eyes fixed on her, and the fact that she was standing incredibly close right now pulling all of his focus away from the matter at hand. She soon wondered if her touching him was unwelcome and so she dropped her hands and took a step away. "Are you injured?"

"No more than usual," she looked at him for a moment before giving him a nod. When she turned and once again walked away, he had to follow. "Twinkie, I was going to tell you about this. About all of this tonight." she stopped walking, her back still to him. "I know you probably have questions and I will answer each and every one of them and more." the air continued to be filled with silence and she refused to turn to him and he felt the nervousness rise in his chest. What if this really was too much for her? What if this was something she couldn't accept? What if she left him because of this? He rushed over to stand in front of her, needing to see her eyes and for her to see his. She lifted her head to meet his gaze. "Say something."

"What is this?" she asked and Oliver looked at her for a moment trying think of how he could answer that question as honestly as possible.

"This is...me fighting for this city the way no one else did." He wondered if she understood what sounded like vague response, and yet it was the complete truth to him. She turned away from his eyes, and he desperately needed to know what she was thinking, but he didn't want to push.

Katie caught her reflection in the glass of one of the display cases, and she frowned looking at herself. What was she doing? She wasn't hero. Not after everything she's done. She shook her head before turning in search of her clothes.

"I have to go," Oliver went to follow after her. "I don't belong here." she spotted her clothes and gathered them in her arms. Oliver reached forward grabbing her arm, and the sudden act caused her to drop her clothes to the floor. In a fit of frustration she turned and shoved him back. "Just leave me alone!" she turned, feeling the sudden anxiety rising in her chest as the sudden realization of all of this just hits her. "This isn't my life!" she turned back to him to see that even though she'd shoved him, he was still close. "This can't be my life!" Oliver wasn't sure what to say because her words had a multitude of meanings and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to assume from them. "I'm not some crime fighting hero. I don't get to wear that title." she turned, but he once again grabbed her arm. She shoved him again, and yet he stepped back to her. He wouldn't let her push him away.

"Why not?" she looked at him for a moment, hesitant to answer that question, and yet she felt that with him she could.

"Because you don't do the things I've done and then turn around and call yourself a hero." she turned glancing over to the others who were all moving about and she let out a heavy sigh. "Look we can have this all out later, right now, you need to get over there and figure out a way to get the rest of those people out." she once again turned, but then she stopped herself because for the life of her, she need to say something else to him. She turned back to Oliver who looked right back to her. "That guy...you broke his neck, and you didn't...you didn't hesitate." Oliver turned away because that was a moment he really didn't want her to see.

"Well I hesitated in the past," he turned back to her. "I stopped myself so many times, and in the end bad things happened to the people who mean the world to me. I won't let that happen again, so now I won't hesitate." she didn't say anything to that, unsure if she really had the right to and so she turned to gather her clothes before disappearing into the bathroom. Oliver let out a sigh before turning to see his sister walking over.

"You know of all the people I expected would swoop in with the surprise rescue, it was you,"

"Well it would've been," Thea and Oliver walked slowly to where Felicity and Curtis were. "But your wife, and those instincts of hers got the feeling that I didn't want to be that person behind the mask hurting people." Oliver stopped and turned to his sister. "She saved me and she doesn't even know she did it."

"Welcome to my life." Oliver looked over to Felicity and Curtis. "How are they coming along?"

"I think they're close to hacking the cordon." Oliver gave a nod before glancing around the bunker.

"Where's Bruce?"

"No idea, Felicity said he went off on some super secret trip that he didn't even tell her about." Oliver looked over to Thea who just shrugged. "Felicity will find out more when we deal with all of this." They turned to see Katie walking from the bathroom, now changed out of the suit. She placed the folded suit on the table before sliding her hand through her hair and walking off. "How's she handling all of this?"

"She doesn't think she should be here." Oliver said taking short steps forward to keep her in sights. He watches as she walks further into the bunker looking around. Thea walked along side of him, glancing over to the woman as well. "I think I should show her that she does." without another word, Oliver walks off, over to Katie who glances over to him before attempting to walk away from him.

"Tobias Church," Oliver says and Katie stops and turns to him. "How much do you know?" Katie turned away with a shake of her head.

"Felicity gave me a run down of his wrap sheet I guess. Guy's a narcissist, murderer, and a psycho." she turned back to the man with a furrowed brow. "Why do you ask?"

"How do you think we should come at this guy?" she looked at him for a moment and scoffed before turning to walk away. "Hey, wait-" he grabbed her arm, but she jerked away from his touch.

"Please don't. I know what you're doing and I'm not playing this game with you. I'll just go home and wait until you figure all of this out."

"So you're running away?" he asked and she stopped and turned her darkened gaze toward the man who wouldn't back down. "Believe it or not, this is your life. You are a hero." she turned away. "What you did, what was done to you, doesn't change the fact that every day since, you've done everything you can to help and protect others." he walked over to her, closing the distance, glad she didn't pull away. "You're the Guardian." she turned to back to his eyes. "This city needs you. I need you. You have no idea-" he dropped his head and swallowed the emotion threatening to take over this moment. He lifted his eyes to hers wondering if she could see it. The truth of his words in his eyes as he looked at her. "You have no idea how much I need you." she didn't say anything to that. Afraid her words would be more than what they should be in this moment and so she turned away from his gaze and walked over to stand in front of the display cases that held the suits of heroes.

"Tobias Church. He wants the Green Arrow." she glanced over to him. "He wants you. The Green Arrow is the only person standing between him and his status as the top dog of criminals in this city." she turned back to the Green Arrow suit still trying to understand how that pompous, jerk friend of hers ended up here as some sort of hero. "He thinks he has to stop you before you stop him, which means, you can stop him."

"And how do I do that?" he asked and she looked over to him with a quirked brow.

"Do you really not know or are you still trying to get me to feel useful?" she asked and he smiled and she turned away because his smile usually sucked all rationale from the room. "Which you don't have to do."

"Tell me anyway," she glanced over to him once more, his attention completely on her with that look she wished he would just stop with. "How do I beat him?"

"You beat him by removing his advantage against you." she turned and looked across the bunker to where Thea, Felicity, Curtis and Quentin all hovered around one of the computers. "He has an entire crew and you have an amnesiac wife, two computer geeks, a sister who wants nothing to do with fighting crime and an old guy who I still have no idea what his deal is." she looked over to Oliver who chuckled before turning to her in amusement. "You need a team." he looked at her for a moment before turning away with a shake of his head. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just Felicity has been hounding me about drafting some new people to bring in to help me and I turned her down."

"Why?" he turned back to her and sighed.

"Well I was kind of hoping that with time, things would go back to the way they were. Everyone would come back and we'd be a team again." she looked at him for a moment before rolling her eyes. "What?"

"You're getting a new team," that was a statement, not a question and Oliver looked over to her waiting for her to continue. "This is ridiculous." she turned back to his and waved her hands around the room. "all of this is completely and utterly ridiculous and you're an idiot." she poked him in this chest and he stared in disbelief. She let out a huff before looking up to meet his eyes. "But you did something, not a lot of people would do. You're standing up, which is a trait the old Oliver never did." she took a step toward him, closing the distance between them. "It's just the guy under the mask has children who expect to see him when he comes home, he has a city who expects him to be there as the Mayor-" she turned away for a moment before turning back to him. "The guy underneath that hood has wife who, although she wished she didn't, depends on him. So you're getting a team."

"It's not that easy. The people she's looking at are amateurs, and doing this is dangerous. It's just not something you pull people into." Katie once again turned away from him before glancing back up to the Green Arrow's suit. "Hey, I'm going to see where Felicity is with shutting down this cordon."

"Right, and I'll head home."

"No, I'll take you home." Oliver said and she turned back to him with a furrowed brow. "I just would feel more comfortable making sure you get home safely." she looked at him for a moment before giving him nod.

Katie stood there a moment longer, her eyes still taking in this place and all of it's implications. With every passing moment she's realizing just how much of her life was still a mystery. She wasn't sure what to make of it. She had the feeling this place...this part of her life was big and yet nothing here triggered a memory. How does a damn stuffed banana trigger a memory and yet an entire hero lair triggers nothing? A hand on her back pulled her back to the moment and she turned to see Oliver.

"It's going to take a bit of time, so I'll get you home and she'll call me when she has something." Katie gave a nod. "I'm going to change and then we can go."

Katie expected a quiet drive home. She was actually hoping for it. The world had become just a bit stranger as she learned more about herself and the people around her. If she were actually paying attention she would've realized a while ago that the route they were driving wasn't taking them home. When the car stopped, she snapped from her thoughts, frowning as she looked out of the window.

"Where are we?" she turned back to Oliver. "I thought you were taking me home."

"I will, I just needed a moment." her brow furrowed in confusion when Oliver stepped out of the car. He walked around, pulling open her door. She looked up to him for a moment, not moving before she let out a sigh and finally stepped out of the car. Her eyes looked around for a moment before she realized she recognized this place.

"This is that stupid quarry." she said turning back to Oliver who chuckled with a shake of his head. "You got me arrested at this quarry." he was exhausted, both mentally and physically but at that he laughed.

"We weren't arrested, we were detained, and I didn't bring you here because of that." he looked over the quarry, and Katie walked over to stand beside him. He didn't say anything and when Katie looked over to him she could see that he was deep in thought. Maybe he didn't bring her here to talk.

"You're not taking me home, are you?" he looked over to her with a smile and she rolled her eyes. "I'm not a hero Oliver."

"You can say that after what you did tonight?"

"Well it looked as if you would've been fine if I didn't show up." she turned to look up to dark sky. "I was foolish enough to believe that I really needed to save you."

"Then why did you?" she turned her gaze to him, her mind traveling back to the moment she saw him tugged into the back of that van. The only thing she could think about was finding him and making sure he was alright. She didn't want to say that so she would counter with another question.

"Why did you come looking for me in that train station?" she turned away from the man, but he continued staring at the side of her face.

"Because I love you and I'd do anything to protect you." his answer was without hesitation. She turned her gaze to him, seeing the certainty and truth on his face as he looked at her. "Why did you?"

"Because you're—" she knew the truth. Knew she shouldn't pause with her words and yet she felt as if she didn't have the right to say them. She still felt like a traveler stuck in someone else's life and she didn't have the right to make such declarations that involved her feelings for him. She smiled and turned to him. "It's because you make a damn good waffle. I don't think I'd be able to survive without them." he walked over to stand in front of her and she sucked in a breath. "Please, don't," she took a step away from him, and he sighed. "I'm sorry, I just-" she met the intensity of his gaze. His phone suddenly rang, and she expected him to quickly answer it, and yet he just continuing staring at her. "Answer it." he let out a huff before taking out the phone and answering.

It was Felicity. She had a way to shut down the kill cordon. "Right, I'm on my way back." he ended the call before looking back to Katie. She didn't say anything, afraid that the words she said weren't the words he would want to hear, and so she turned and headed back to the car. Oliver watched her before sliding a hand across his face. This was definitely not how he expected this to go.

They were taking the familiar route back to the bunker which confirmed Katie's fears that he really wasn't taking her back home. She wondered why he was so insistent on her helping with this when she wasn't even totally aware of what all of this really was. They were riding the elevator in silence, when she glanced over to him. When the doors slid, open he moved to step off, but she grabbed his arm. He turned back to her with a quirked brow.

"I went to save you tonight, because me doing anything else didn't seem possible. I needed to find you. I needed to make sure you were safe. I have absolutely no idea why, but I am certain that whenever you are in trouble I will be there to save you." he opened his mouth to say something, but she held up her hand. " And I'm pretty sure you would do the same, but to do that you actually have to be here." she slid her hand into his, and felt his grasp. "I need you here. So if you are going to continue doing this, then you're getting a team. Whatever you're afraid of, it's time to let it go and move on." She was right. He knew she was right and he actually knew Curtis and Felicity were right when they brought up the idea. He wanted to hold out hope that everything could go back to the way it was, but every day was proving just how impossible that may be. The moment was removing them from reality which they knew couldn't happen right now and so Katie cleared her throat and attempted to pull away, but Oliver held her hand. "You have to go, we can talk later."

Oliver didn't want to push. He really wanted to move at a pace that was comfortable for her. Sometimes it was easy, but other times, much like this one, was very hard. He wanted to grab her and kiss her, and tell her every thing he felt for her. This was one time he wished things would go back to the way they were before. Before Damien Darhk, and before dark entities inhabited his wife's body. He released her hands, giving a nod before going over to Felicity to see what she had found.

Katie watched as he walked away, and she couldn't ignore the twisting in her gut. She turned away, spotting a door and heading over. She assumed it was just another bathroom, but when she opened it, she stopped when she realized it was actually a bedroom. Her eyes scanned the room, before they rested on a playpen in the corner. She walked further inside before letting out a sigh and sitting on the edge of the bed. She dropped her face to her hands feeling as if she were doing everything wrong. She could see it in Oliver's eyes that he needed something from her that she isn't sure she could give him. Stepping into a life in the middle felt wrong, and intrusive. She didn't want to mess up this life she doesn't even remember starting.

_Suddenly an impossible hot wind blew past her, and when she lifted her head, her eyes widened as she found herself no longer in that room. She stood to her feet as she found herself surrounded by nothing but white space that felt both never ending and suffocating at the same time. Katie could feel her heart racing in her chest as she spun around looking for a way out which seemed impossible since she had no idea how she even got here._

_She'd only taken a step before something slid under her feet knocking her to the ground hard. She quickly flipped over on her back to see the culprit, but there was no one there. When she jumped back to her feet, she spun around now very much aware that she was not alone._

_"What is this?!" she yelled, her voice echoing around her. There was a tap on her shoulder, and when she whipped around, her eyes widen to see herself staring back to her. "What-" she stumbled back._

_"I told you not to come back here," came the voice of her double whose expression seemed to match the annoyed tone of her voice. "You can't come back here!" Katie watched the doppelganger glance over her shoulder warily as if expecting to see someone. "It's not safe." she turned back to Katie who just stared in bewilderment unsure what to even say. "Why do you keep coming back here?"_

_"I don't-" the answer to that question wasn't simple for a variety reasons. The number one answer was the fact that Katie wasn't even sure how she got here in the first place. Then she thought about it. How the explosion of emotions bubbling inside of her could go away if only she could bring this woman back. Katie took a deep breath. "You have to come back." the double shook her head and took a step back._

_"That's not possible." she turned once again, this time Katie recognized the look. Someone was coming. "I have to stay here," she turned back to Katie. "And you have to go back and live."_

_Katie let out a frustrated growl as she took a step forward. "That's just it, I can't! I don't remember this life, your life. I have this husband who looks at me like I'm not-" she shook her head. "A daughter I can't hold and I don't even know why." she looked back up to the tired and worn face that mirrored her own. "I don't fit. Just come back and-"_

_"That's not possible!" she repeated once again annoyed. Suddenly a sword appeared in her hand and she looked down to it and sighed. She looked back up to Katie. "I have to keep fighting in here while you fight out there." she began backing away. The bright room began to get darker as if someone was dimming the lights. "Liver will always look at you and never see a monster. Sooner or later he'll make even you believe it. It's one of the reasons we love him." the double turned as the bright space around them began to take shape and form. Katie realized the walls of the demon's fortress was forming around them. She was about to run off, but she stopped and turned back to Katie. "That feeling you get when you're near Robyn, that fear...it's ok. Just hold her. We would never hurt her. That's why I fight. I protect them and I protect you." the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall and the double turned and gripped the sword. "You should leave."_

Katie wanted to say more. To volunteer to stay and fight, but she never got the chance. Katie's eyes flicked open, immediately struck with the sight of the pale tan ceiling. She sat up quickly and looked around only to realize she was back in that strange room within the bunker. Her head whipped around at a knock and she turned to see Thea who cautiously stepped inside.

"You're awake. I stopped by earlier, but you were sleeping." Katie frowned turning away. Was she asleep? Was it all a dream? "Oliver is on his way back." Katie turned back to the woman. "He was able to save the others and stop a few of Church's men, but the bastard got away." Katie frowned and stood to her feet. "It sucks but at least lives were saved today. That's always a plus."

"Yeah, but Tobias went through a lot of trouble for his plans to just fail." Katie said sliding a hand across her face. "That man found a way to kidnap Oliver and a few others in broad day light with a police presence."

"Apparently he had police on his payroll." Katie looked over to the woman and just shook her head before stalking out of the room. The only person there was Felicity who looked up from her computer. She frowned as she noticed the look on Katie's face.

"Hi, what's happening?"

"Oliver needs a team."

"He does. He's just being a pain about not checking out any of the people Curtis and I have been looking into."

"Show me." Katie says and Felicity looked over to her with a quirked brow before looking over to Thea who walked over as well. "Felicity-" the blonde turned back to her. "I'm pretty sure after today Oliver has realized he's a little understaffed, but it doesn't matter if he doesn't. He's getting a team. Now, show me who you've got." Felicity seemed to smile a bit, glancing over to Thea who shared the same look. Felicity gave a nod before turning and picking up the folder and handing it to Katie before walking over and pulling up some files on the computer.

"Now, don't focus too much on the code names. Just-" Katie took the folder and headed off to the other side of the bunker. Thea walked over to stand beside Felicity as the watched as Katie went up to the meeting room and began sliding the files along the table.

"We should probably stop staring right now." Thea said as the pair continued to blatantly stared.

"We so should, but I'm finding it hard to turn away. That-" she looked over to Thea. "That was such a Twinkie thing to do and I-" Katie lifted her eyes to them and both women just turned and dispersed quickly.

When Oliver returned to the bunker, he stepped from the elevator not seeing anyone at first. He walked further inside stopping at the sound of what sounded like a snort. He followed the sound until he spotted his wife. Her back was to him as she looked down to something that was on the table in front of her. He sat down his quiver and bow and pulled his hood from over his head before walking over to see what she was so focused on. He walked over to stand beside her and she didn't even flinch at his sudden appearance. He looked down to see the familiar photos of the perspective new recruits Felicity wanted him to look over.

"Felicity went home. I guess Bruce is back and she's has to yell at him." Katie says moving around the table and looking over another sheet a paper. She shook her head before picking it up and crumpling it into a ball and tossing it over her shoulder. "Thea headed home to check on the kids. I've been calling though and everything has been quiet since we've been gone." Oliver simply watched her as she continued to move around the table.

"Twinkie-"

"Tobias Church got away."

"I know and-"

"He's going to come back." she lifted her head to him. "Either for Oliver Queen or the Green Arrow."

"I will be fine, I don't-"

"You're getting team." she looked back down to the perspectives and sighed. "I mean, yeah it's going to take a lot of work. They're going to need training...a lot of training." she picked up one of the papers and hand it to Oliver. "You'll start with him." Oliver looked over to the woman before taking the paper from his hand. "You've met him before I believe. His name is Rene Ramirez, but Felicity and Curtis came up with the name Wild Dog. There's this kid, Evelyn Sharp, she calling herself the Black Canary apparently taking the name from Laurel Lance. Couldn't believe that one." Oliver lifted his eyes from the paper and looked over to Katie who walked back over to him.

"Maybe you're right." Oliver tossed the paper to the table before looking over to the woman who came closer to him. He watches as her eyes seemed to look over him.

"So how injured are you right now?" she asked and Oliver smirked down to her. She didn't see it though as she continued to let her eyes search for any visible cuts or bruises. "How are-" she reached forward and grabbed at his stomach and he grimaced as she expected he would.

"I'm fine," he replied and she looked up to meet his eyes and there it was. That look she'd probably never get used to. _When he looks at you he doesn't see a monster. Sooner or later he'll make you believe it._

"Why don't I be the judge of that." she said moving around him. Oliver turned and followed behind her and watched as she went over to the first aid station. He quirked a brow as he watched her sift through drawers as if she knew where everything was. When she turned back to him, she noticed the confused look on his face. "What?" he looked at her for a moment and just shook his head.

"Nothing. Twinkie, really I'm fine. My ribs are just a bit bruised. I'll take care of them later." it was an argument he knew she wouldn't go for, but he couldn't help himself. Maybe this helped. The familiar banter could trigger a memory. She opened her mouth to respond, but then stopped and just gave a nod. She turned away for a moment and Oliver was glad she couldn't see him visibly deflate at how easily she gave up. "Right, we should get home and-"

"Actually, no," she turned back to the man and stalked over to him, staring up to his green eyes. "Take off your shirt so I can make sure your ribs are just bruised and not broken. Either way they need to be secured as soon as possible." she turned away and rolled up her sleeves as she went to wash her hands. She looked over to Oliver who hadn't moved, as he just stands there and stares dumbly. "Seriously, Liver if I have to do it, you're not gonna like it." he smiled as he watched her go about washing her hands. He was actually pretty sure he would like it if she took off his shirt, but he simply shook away the thought before grabbing the bottom of his shirt and pulling over his head.

The days and weeks that followed Oliver's last press conference weren't too eventful. Church hadn't made any moves which was a good thing at the moment. But Oliver knew men like Tobias. The man was going to take the time to plan his next move which meant Oliver needed to make his own plans. One of those plans was happening at this very moment.

"Good morning. I had intended to state my position on the anti-crime initiative during my previous press conference, but that speech was cut short. In the intervening days, I have refined my position. Now, I have been reluctant to embrace the A.C.I," Oliver stood at the podium in front of city hall, his eyes going to the officers standing off to the side of him. "Because of widespread corruption within our police department, but these 4 officers have shown me and the entire city that there are still good men and women in the SCPD. Today I am announcing the formation of the anti-crime unit. These 4 officers will report directly to me, and by working together, we will begin the process of saving our city." there was applause before reporters rushed forward for further questioning. There were questions about his recent announcement but as expected one topic slipped in as well.

"Mr. Queen, we're all excited about your announcement about the ACI, but your last press conference was to be an update on your wife which still hasn't happened." Oliver looked over to the reporter who asked the question. When Oliver opened his mouth to respond, suddenly the reporters looked behind him and began moving. Oliver looked over to Thea who was looking back as well and when he followed her eyes that's when he saw Katie who slowly stepped out the doors. She came today with the intent to watch his speech from his office, but he didn't expect for her to step outside. He quickly rushed over, bringing an arm around her and leaning over to her ear.

"Hey, you don't have to do this." he pulled back to meet her eyes. She glanced around the man to see the camera flashes and reporters being held back by officers.

"I know, but I think I should," she reached forward and took his hand as she let out a deep breath. "Just don't leave me." she glanced up to him and he dropped his head to hers.

"Never," he whispered.

Oliver walked back over to the podium, stopping and letting Katie stand in front of the microphone. She dropped her head slightly when the camera flashes seemed to be non stop. She felt Oliver's hand on her back and the fact that he was right there beside drew away some of the nervousness. And so she turned back to the crowd, her head held high and smiled.

"Hello." her voice echoed. She opened her mouth about speak, but before she could even continue, they were already firing off questions.

That same night, Katie found herself sitting on the floor in the hallway, staring at the door that lead to the nursery.

"How long do we have to sit out here?" came the whiny voice of the teenager sitting on Katie's right.

"Ari, really, you don't have to sit out here." Oliver responded from his place at Katie's left. Katie simply silently stared at the door. Both joined her when they happened upon her when walking by, along with Thea who was downstairs getting snacks.

Ari let out an exaggerated sigh. "I know I don't have to, I just want to be here when it happens. When she finally gets over her crap and goes to hold the little stinker." Oliver shook his head. "You know while I have you both here, I was thinking, next month-"

"Ari, we know it's your birthday."

"Right-"

"And you've already sent me lists of the things you want."

"Yeah, but you've been busy and I just want to make sure-" Katie stood to her feet and both Oliver and Ari went still at the move. They watched as her feet stepped closer to the door before reaching forward and wrapping a hand around the doorknob.

"Hey, popcorn's-" Thea's voice drifted to stop the moment she neared and saw Katie outside of the nursery.

Katie closed her eyes, trying to will the heaviness in her chest away. "You won't hurt her." she needed to say the words again and again as she done so in her head countless times while sitting out here. She opened her eyes and turned the doorknob, pushing open the door.

It was late, but one little Robyn Queen was wide awake, and the moment the door opened, her eyes lit up at the sight of her mother. The girl brightly smiled as she bounced up and down in excitement. And in that moment, little Robin Queen said her third word as clear as day.

"Ma ma!" and with the utterance of that word, Katie found all hesitation...all fear just completely gone. Her steps quickened before she reached forward and scooped the child in her arms, hugging her to her chest as she peppered feverish kisses on her head. Katie closed her eyes, and sighed as she felt tears prickling her eyes.

"Twinkie-"

Katie didn't hear anyone else in that room. In the matter of seconds, the present was stolen by little moments of the past all staring one tiny face. Katie stood there as moment after moment came hitting her one after the other and they were all of Robyn. The first time she held her after she was born. Nights she spent just watching her sleep. Rocking in that chair while the child's heavy eyes fought the need for sleep. Soon a moment comes back that she doesn't quite understand.

" _Don't worry baby," she whispers placing a kiss to Robyn's head. "Mommy is going to do everything she has to, the make sure it doesn't come back."_

Katie's eyes opened and she looked down to the child who clutched her tightly as her eyes lazily blinked before finally closing in sleep. Katie placed another kiss to Robyn's head before looking up to see three set of eyes on her.

"Oh-" Thea turned, slyly trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. She looked over to Ari, grabbing her arm. "We should go," she turned back to Katie and smiled. "Good night," Thea tugged Ari from the room, closing the door behind them.

Katie turned to Oliver who wore a smile on his face as he simply stares in adoration at a sight he only dreamed of. This was the moment he wanted. The moment his daughter finally could be held in her mother's arms. He probably needed this moment more than either of them. Seeing Katie holding Robyn somehow solidified the fact that this was really happening. The nightmare these last couple of months without her here, at home, was over. She was really back.  
Katie felt as if she could hold Robyn in her arms for the rest of her life, and yet she settled for a couple of minutes more before she gently lowered her back into the crib. She didn't leave right away. Too mesmerized by just staring down to this child who, the longer she looked, she could pin point each feature she got from her and which she got from Oliver.

"This is so weird," she finally spoke and Oliver let out a chuckle. She looked up to meet his eyes. "We have a baby." she shook her head. "Oliver Queen and Katherine Robins got married and had a baby." she looked back to the child who was now completely asleep. "I remember her." she looked back over to Oliver who looked slightly surprised. She hadn't brought up remembering anything since her return. She looked back down to the girl's face. "I don't know what happened to me, or why I can't remember everything, but for some reason I can remember every moment with her, every small smile, every hungry cry, every funny face-" she chuckled feeling more tears in her eyes, because she's starting to realize that for five months she wasn't here for moments with her daughter. She missed it and she has no idea why. She lifted her eyes back to his to see that smile still on his face.

"That's great, that's-" emotion threatened to take his words. He let out a breath before looking back over to her. "Of everything I wished you could remember, she was at the top of the list." Katie smiled as she looked back down to her daughter. Her mind drifting to that memory of a promise. She had questions. Her eyes glanced up to Oliver who was looking down to their daughter as well. She had no idea what the memory meant, or if Oliver knew anything about it either. She knows he would tell her to just talk to him about it, but for some reason she's afraid. She has no idea why. She just felt that whatever it was would change everything, and even though she wants her memories back...even though she wants to not feel so disconnected from her life, she's just not sure she's even ready to know what bomb blew up her entire life.

His eyes looks back up to hers and he smiles.

"What?"

She drops her eyes back down to the baby with a shake of her head. "Nothing."


	7. Accepting Change

Chapter 7

**Accepting Change**

" _One has to accept that change is the only constant in our" lives._

_-Johnny Lever_

* * *

The grating sound of metal scraping echoed in the room. A sweet, delicate hand holds the blade as it's dragged again and again across the whetstone. In one swift move, the blade goes flying across the room piercing one of many photographs of one Dr. Katherine Queen, affixed to the wall.

"You know there were fewer holes in these walls before you moved in." a voice spoke from the door. "I mean, I think everyone gets it. You hate her, but maybe you shouldn't take that hatred out on the very expensive walls of my house."

"This plan is taking too long."

"Yeah, well we thought she would die in the coma, and now she's up and about, so now the new plan is in effect. Right now we move at the whim of Prometheus, and so we wait."

"Well, I'm not sure I can."

There was a weird sculpture Katie found herself staring at, that stole her from the moment. It was a red clay sculpture of a kneeling woman, her arms crossed over her forehead. There was something about it that drew her in. Katie was currently in the middle of her third therapy session with an old friend, Nicholas Adams. The therapist had just asked a question before glancing up to see the woman seemingly enamored by his sculpture.

"It was a gift," he stood to his feet and stood beside her as he looked at the sculpture as well. "From an old friend. I guess she picked it up in some small village in Mali. She said it had a cool story that she would share when she came back."

"What's the story?"

Nick cleared his throat, dropping his eyes from the sculpture. "No idea. She was killed one night by a roadside bomb." Katie frowned, glancing over her shoulder to the man who looked back over to the sculpture. "Now I will never know." he glanced back down to the notepad before looking back over to Katie. "I asked how everything was going, at home." she didn't answer the question and he sighed. Trying to get her to talk was like pulling teeth. It reminded him of their earlier sessions from years ago. She had up that wall, keeping everyone out. He just had to figure out how to once again get around it. "You know I can only imagine how strange it must be to wake up one day and find out your life has just moved on without you."

"I doubt whatever you do imagine could come close to how I feel right now," Katie muttered as she walked off to stand by the window. Nick chuckled at the move.

"You know I've always wondered why you do that."

"Do what?" she kept her eyes out the window.

"Why you gravitate toward the window in the room whenever you find yourself in a conversation you'd rather not be in." he walked over to take a seat in his chair, before tossing down the notepad to look over to her. "I have a theory though. Care to hear it?"

"Knock yourself out."

"Ok, well I think you like to stand near windows because you've spent an awful lot of time feeling trapped," he watched the slight tensing of her shoulders. "Windows, both figuratively and literally are an opening to the outside world. A way to escape." she didn't say anything, and Nick sighed as he slid a hand across his chin. "I told you in our first session that this only works if you talk to me. What is happening to you is traumatic, and I know you have to have some kind of thoughts about it."

Katie closed her eyes and dropped her head against the window. She hated coming to these sessions. Not because she didn't think they could help, because she knew they could. She's witnessed patients find themselves out of dark places through therapy, and yet she found it difficult to open her mouth and let her feelings just come spilling out. She knew it was from years of being surrounded by people who only had ulterior motives...people who never really wanted to help her, only use her for something they wanted. She lifted her head and looked over to Nick who sat watching her, waiting for her to say something. When she looked at him, she didn't see a man with an ulterior motive, she never did. It was just hard to shake years of conditioning...years of being taught to trust no one. She glanced back out the window, realizing she'd already broken that rule by allowing herself to be pulled into a family she had no memory of and had no intention of ever leaving. And so she turned and walked over to sit in front of Nick.

"I feel...angry." she finally said and he simply nodded before picking up his note pad and taking notes. "I feel powerless." he glanced up to her as she turned her eyes away from him and continued. "I feel lost even though I've been told that I'm found." she glanced back over to the man and shrugged. "It feels like one day I woke in someone else's life, and each day I'm waiting for her to come back and I'm afraid she won't."

"Why are you afraid?"

"Because if she doesn't come back then the world is stuck with me and I'm not-" she dropped her head and slid her fingers through her hair. "I'm not who they think I am." she looked back up to him.

"And who are you?"

Katie looked at the man, her initial answer to that question would probably ensure extra therapy sessions. Coming out and saying that she was a monster probably would sway questions in a direction she didn't want to go because they would take her back to a time she wished she could forget.

"I don't know. But I'm not someone they should revere. Or someone they should care about-" she shook her head. "I'm not someone Oliver should look at like—" she dropped her face to her hands.

"How does he look at you?"

"He looks at me like I'm not the total and complete mess, I know I am." she looked over to Nick who was still scribbling notes in his note pad and she rolled her eyes. "It feels wrong," he stopped writing and looks up to her. "It feels wrong to even entertain this life as even possible when deep down I just know it isn't. Not after everything."

"You don't think you deserve this life?"

"I don't." she looked over to him with a shake of her head. "A husband who loves me, a beautiful daughter, raising my cousin who actually likes me after I single-handedly ruined her life. And this damn city thinks I'm sort of saint."

"Katie, you have to realize that the person you are now, grew into the person these people know. I know not remembering makes all of this tough, and I know you're frustrated with people telling you about yourself when you can't remember, but you made this life happen. At some point in your life you felt that you did deserve this life."

Katie turned away because that was the question she wanted answered. What happened that shifted her focus? What changed that she stopped trying to push people away and started being open to letting them in?

"When you started seeing me, you once mentioned that when you returned to this city, you had no intention in staying." she glanced back over to him with a furrowed brow. "Your father passed away, and you said there was nothing keeping you in this city," Katie rolled her eyes at the mention of her father. Oliver had told her that the world thought he was dead, and she was only realizing more and more how much of a bastard he really was.

"And why did I stay?"

"Why are you staying now?" he countered and she slid back in her seat and thought on the question.

"Oliver Queen," she shook her head. "He wants his wife, and I'm not-"

"Except you are. You may not remember the tumultuous relationship between you and your husband, but deeply rooted in that relationship from friends, to dating, to being married, you found something. Something that changed you." she turned away. "You're not a stranger in someone else's life and maybe if you accept that, it may ease some of your fears. Maybe even find that thing that turned your life around."

"I'm not even sure how to do that. Immerse myself in this life-" she shook her head. "This woman I became is so not me and I just don't know how to be her."

"Then take small steps. How about with Oliver?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean right now, what is your relationship like?"

Katie turned away and shrugged. "It's different I guess, but kind of the same. I mean we're friends, but I can feel there's something more there. A shift that I can't remember, but I know it's there. We're married, he's my husband, and we have a daughter, but I guess we haven't..." she looked back over to Nick. "I guess there's a level of intimacy married people have that I'm not sure I can-" she turned away. She could never shake that nagging feeling when she was with Oliver that those feelings she was having, those desires to touch him or kiss him were wrong because he just wasn't hers.

"Ok, you and Oliver are married. He's your husband, and you're his wife. You are Katherine Queen. Try to solidify that part of your identity within yourself."

"How?"

"I don't know, uhmm... kiss him." Nick said and Katie frowned slightly. "Unless you don't want to kiss him."

"Well, no that's not it. I mean, of course I want to kiss him, I've always wanted to kiss him. It's just...it would be weird." Nick chuckled and Katie glared over to him. "What kind of therapist laughs at his patient for expressing an opinion?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed, I just-" Nick met Katie's eyes and sighed. "You're not afraid that it would be weird, you're just afraid of shifting this comfortable friendship you and he have right now."

"And what's wrong with that? He doesn't seem to mind."

"Well I think I can safely assume Oliver wouldn't think kissing you is weird. According to some of the pictures I've seen of you two in the past, you were a very affectionate couple." Katie turned away and sighed. "Look I don't want to push you into doing something you're not comfortable with. I just want you to try to find some way to step into these shoes that is your life. You might start to feel differently once you do." Nick glanced down this watch. "I think that's our time. I really appreciate you opening up today, and I hope we can continue trying to find a way to get you more comfortable with your life."

When Katie stepped out of Nick's office, she couldn't stop thinking about his words. She had to admit that she was comfortable with how her relationship with Oliver was. It felt safe. But she always felt as if there were moments where he wanted more and she just pulled away. Katie walked into the bathroom down the hall from Nick's office, immediately going over to the sink to splash water on her face. She looked up to the mirror, pausing as she always did to look back to the stranger who stared at her.

"You are Katherine Queen," even to this day saying the words out loud seemed strange. "Oliver is your husband. He's yours." she let out a sighed before grabbing some paper towel and patting her face dry. Her eyes lifted back to the mirror, and soon a smile came to her lips. "You're going to kiss him." she tossed the paper towel into the trash bin before pushing out of the door and heading for the elevator. She pressed the button, waiting for the doors to open, her thoughts now coming up with some plan to kiss one Oliver Queen. When the doors finally opened, she paused her step because the subject of her thoughts was standing in front of her. "Oliver? What are you doing here? I thought you had meetings all morning." he smiled as she stepped on.

"They didn't take as long as I thought." he glanced out into the office. "Your appointment's over?" he turned back to see her nod. "I'm sorry, I told Thea my schedule should be clear for these things, but-"

"Stop apologizing. I really don't expect you to be at every doctor's appointment I have. You're the Mayor, and like a hero. Your free time is very limited." the doors opened and Oliver caught her arm before she could step out, and she turned to him with a furrowed brow.

"For you, for the kids, nothing is more important, so it doesn't matter what I'm doing, my schedule will change when I need to be with my family." she narrowered her eyes.

"Did that meeting end early, or did you skip out on them?" Oliver opened his mouth to respond, but then he just sighed. She smiled with a shake of her head as he looked back to her. _Do it now! Kiss him!_ She didn't...because she was a wuss.

"Oh—" Oliver and Katie turned to see Steve standing at the open doors of the elevator looking between them. "I didn't think you were coming to this appointment, boss?"

"That's because Oliver is playing hooky from his mayoral duties." Katie says and Oliver glanced over to see the smirk on her face before she steps off of the elevator. "And Thea will blame me." she looked back to see him following behind her. "I'm really fine, you can head back to City Hall, maybe catch the meeting you're skipping to be here."

"It really wasn't an important meeting." there was something about the way he said it that made her not believe him.

"Oliver you're the mayor, all of your meetings are important."

"Not more important than being here for you, so stop trying to get rid of me," he glanced over to Steve. "I'm going to take her home, you can go on ahead." Steve didn't immediately follow the order, his eyes glancing over to Katie hesitant to leave. Katie looked over to the guard, and sighed.

"I think he's worried about us."

"Steve, it's fine, I came with a detail from City Hall, and they're going to be pulling in soon."

"Well protocol permits that they should be here as soon as you step off the elevator," Steve turned away in frustration. His opinion on Oliver's mayoral security team was no secret. He thought they were all idiots, and the incident at the press conference only validated his opinion.

"Steve-" the man turned back to Oliver. "It's fine, I told them to take their time because I actually wanted a moment alone with my wife."

"Oh, I should— Steve shook his head. "I'm sorry sir, I will-" he pointed behind him before turning and making himself scarce.

Katie turned to Oliver with a quirked brow. "You wanted to be alone with me?" Oliver looked over to her with a smile.

"Actually, yeah. How did your session with Nick go?" Katie looked at him for a moment before turning away. Of course he wanted to talk about her crazy session. Oliver noticed what looked like a slight hint of disappointment cross her face and he wonders if that's not what she wanted him to say. "I just thought-"

"No," she turned back to him with a shake of her head. "It went as well as one can hope I guess. It's still weird. I'm not a sharer and I don't actually like to talk about my feelings which makes these sessions seem pointless, but I guess there are moments of reflection." she shrugged turning back to him. "They actually make me think about things I didn't really think about before."

"What sort of things?" Oliver asked and Katie turned away, letting out a slight sigh. She wasn't sure she should bring up the whole kiss thing, since it really did seem kind of weird. She has no idea why. "Nothing, just stuff," she clears her throat and turns at the sound of the engine of Oliver's car. "So what was the meeting?" Oliver looked over to her.

"It was a budget meeting." Oliver said walking over to open the door for her. He stood at the door, and turned to see she hadn't moved. Oliver let out a sigh, closing the door, before walking back over to her. "In the last couple of months, hospitals have been closing. We're meeting with the CEO of Amertek to present to them a free clinic to help this city and get people the medical attention they need. We're hoping to get them to help cover the costs of getting the clinic up and running." Katie frowned, turning away slightly. "Twinkie—" she turned a glare to him.

"Did you seriously just tell me that you skipped a meeting that could help upstart a free clinic in this city?" she poked him in the chest. "Me, the woman who has seen what cities, and villages are like without any kind of medical facilities." she shook her head before turning and storming over to his car and opening the back door. "You're going to this meeting and you are going to make the best damn pitch you have ever made." Oliver walked over to stand in front of him. "This is an important meeting."

"You're right, it is important, but the choice in front of me was either go to that meeting, or come here to make sure you were alright after your session."

"And you chose me?" Oliver smiled, turning away a bit. He wanted to say so much to that question. Once again every emotion he held for this woman just threatened to spill out of him. He turned back to her brown eyes and let out a breath.

"Without a second thought," he replied and Katie looked at him for a moment, holding his gaze. _Just kiss him!_ She bit her bottom lip, the temptation just right there, before turning away from his gaze. _Yep, still a big ole wuss._ "Thea can cover the meeting, and I-"

"You're going to the meeting," she turned back to him and let out a dramatic sigh. "And so am I." she turned slipping into the car, and Oliver felt the smile tug at his lips before he got in as well.

The drive to city hall was...not what Oliver expected. Katie found his notes for the meeting and had spent the majority of the ride reading over them. She had pulled a pen out of her purse, scribbling out things and writing new ones.

"No, this is just a repeat of what you said early on and something like this shouldn't have repetition," she muttered as her eyes focused on the notes. "Oh, I know, you can move this here, and then end with this." she stopped scribbling and read over her final product. Oliver sat beside her, watching her, totally mesmerized by how much passion and energy she focused on one pitch. He knew the idea would be important to her. He'd actually thought it up when she was still in a coma. He was going to name it after her, but he's sure she'd shoot that idea down now. Oliver saw a sudden frown on her face as she read.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just-" she turned to look at him. "This idea seems like something that would fall into the New Beginning's Initiative. From what I read online, this sort of good will venture would be right their alley. Why are you going to Amertek, and not RI?" Oliver turned away. It was initially the plan to go to Robins Incorporated with the plan, but after the whole fiasco with Annabelle, he figured he should keep his distance.

"It just didn't seem like the right fit." Oliver said turning back to the woman whose brow furrowed. "Bringing this to RI would mean bringing it to Annabelle and I just didn't think that was a good idea." Katie looked at him for a moment before turning away. "I thought you would think my limited interactions with her would be a good thing."

"No, that's not it, it's just-" she turned back to him, and the way he stared at her always made her thoughts jumbled. She shook her head. "You bringing this to Amertek actually looks like you're avoiding her. I just don't want that to overshadow how important this is." she glanced down the paper, now riddled with her own notes. "Look I don't care who funds this, I'm one hundred percent behind anyone who will help make this possible." she handed Oliver the papers and he looked over to her for a moment, and that desire to just kiss her right then in that moment was so strong. His fingers brushed against hers as he took the papers and neither could ignore that spark as they did. He couldn't help it when he leaned in to her.

"Sir-" Oliver suddenly froze, and turned to his driver in annoyance. "We're here." Oliver turned to Katie who suddenly turned away from him and grabbed her bag. And just like that the moment was gone.

Slipping his hand over Katie's had become a normal routine for Oliver when they were in a public place. It wasn't for show, or because they wanted to portray something they weren't, it was honestly his way to keep her near. He always had a bit of anxiety when they were out in public, always wary of who was around them and their possible intentions. And it would seem that it was a routine Katie would accept. When he took her hand, she never pulled away.

Walking into City Hall. Oliver held Katie's hand, smiling and greeting those they passed. Katie found her face starting to hurt from the smiling, relief only coming when they stepped onto the elevator. It was empty, but Oliver still held on to her hand.

"At some point my lips are just going to fall off my face." Katie said suddenly and Oliver looked down to her and laughed. "A person should not smile this much. I'm sure there's like a medical concern about it or something."

"Well if anyone can find it, I'm sure you can, doctor." Oliver said as the door slid open. They walked into Oliver's office, surprised to see Thea there waiting for them. Thea turned her eyes lighting up when she sees Katie.

"Hey, I didn't know you were visiting today." Thea said, smiling when she saw their linked hands, before turning to her brother. "I thought I was going to have to go solo for this Amertek meeting."

"I had a change of heart?"

"And by change of heart, he means I made him come." Katie says looking over to Oliver with a smile. She turned to face him, pulling her hand from his grasp to straighten his tie. "You are going into this meeting and you're going to pitch your ass off." her hands fell to rest on his chest and she looked up to his eyes. "Remember why this is important, and convey that with your words and make them see it."

Oliver found himself once again practicing a lot of restraint right now with his wife. But the passion in her words about this clinic, and seeing how important this was to her after only just learning about it, just made him remember why he loved her. It was a trait he admired and also inadvertently found sexy as hell.

The silent staring between the two seemed to speak volumes, which is why Thea cleared her throat to bring them back to the moment. They both turned to her with raised brows.

"We should be heading down to the boardroom." Thea said and Oliver nodded before turning back to Katie.

"Right, well good luck and-"

"You're coming with us." Oliver suddenly said, taking her hand and pulling her with him. Katie turned her confused eyes from her to Thea who seemed amused. They stopped outside of the door, and Katie pulled her hand from him.

"I can't go in this meeting."

"Why not?" Thea asked with a smile that only annoyed Katie. "I actually think this is a good idea. To have a doctor here actually express the importance of the clinic. They will hear this, especially if it comes from you."

"What do you mean if it comes from me?" she turns to Oliver with a shake of her head. "You think this is going to go one way, and it's going to go another. I mean look at me," Katie looked down to her outfit which consisted of dark blue jeans and a white buttoned shirt covered by a short light beige trench coat. "I don't look like someone who should be helping with this, so I'm just going to go back to your office and-" she turned around to leave.

"Twinkie, wait-" Katie turned back to Oliver. "Between the three of us, who knows what this clinic could truly mean for this city. You just told me that I have know why this is important and to make them see it. You can make them see it." Katie looked over to the man, before looking over to the hopeful eyes of Thea Queen before letting out a groan.

"Fine, but you do this pitch how you planned and I will just add my two cents if it's needed or if there's any medical questions." Oliver smiled before pulling open the door. "And you don't have to look so pleased with yourself."

"Impossible," Oliver whispered as she walked into the meeting room.

Arianna Locke had one mission today and that was to convince Oliver and Katie to let her join his crack team of recruits. After school, Ari had Hank bring her to Oliver's old campaign office.

"I still don't see what this place is?" Hank says as he glances back to the girl who rolls her eyes. "And let me guess, you're not going to tell me."

"Nope. It's on the list of designated places I'm allowed to be and that's all you need to know. I'm meeting Oliver here, so you can head home." Ari turned to get out the car, before stopping and turning back to the man. "You're not even going to give me a hint at what this awesome birthday present is?" the man laughed as he shook his head.

"Not on your life, kid." Ari just rolled her eyes before getting out of the car and heading inside. She stopped before opening the door, glancing over her shoulder with a slight frown. She'd spent many nights blindfolded with Nyssa and her attempts to help heighten her senses. She thought it was a load of a crap, and yet in this moment, she has the strangest feeling of being watched. She didn't see anyone, which made her believe that she was just being paranoid, and so she headed inside.

Turning the familiar corner in the office, Ari looked up surprised to see Bruce standing at the elevator doors. He looked back over to her with a furrowed brow.

"I have a nagging suspicion that you're not supposed to be here." Bruce says as the doors opened.

"Well I have a nagging suspicion that black really isn't your color." she moves around the man and walks into the elevator. Bruce can't help but laugh as he steps inside as well. "So-" Bruce turns to her. "You know my birthday is coming up, right?"

Bruce furrows his brow. "It is?" he shakes his head and turns back to the doors. "Hmph, I didn't know that." Ari glares because she knows he's lying. The doors slide open and Bruce steps off.

"Whatever old man, just make sure you have a gift on that table." she says and Bruce just chuckles as he walks over to Felicity. The blonde looks over her shoulder to see Bruce, but her eyes shift to the teenager and she shakes her head.

"Nuh-uh," Felicity stands to her feet. "You, young lady are absolutely prohibited from being here and you know that. Ever since that stunt you pulled."

"That wasn't a stunt!" Ari says dropping her backpack on the floor and walking over to Felicity. "That was me helping. Oliver was dealing with a bunch of stuff and so I-"

"You went after a crazy person on your own?" Felicity asked and Bruce let out a snort and she turned to him with a furrowed brow. "You find something amusing about this."

"No-" he looks over to Ari and shakes his head. "What you did was beyond stupid, kid, but it reminds me of someone." he turns back to Felicity with a look she suddenly understands and can't help but shake her head. "She's Richard, in teenage girl form."

"you're not helping." Felicity turns back to Arianna and just shakes her head. "Oliver and Katie have made it pretty clear that your inclusion here should be limited. Plus, Oliver no longer needs your help. I'm back, and he's training a new team. You don't have to worry about him anymore."

"Right, like I shouldn't worry about him going out there with weirdos named Wild Dog." she said and Felicity quirked a brow. "and you're probably wondering how I know that name."

"I am wondering how you know that name." Felicity says seriously as she takes a step toward the girl. "Did you hack my systems, because my sweet Ari, if you did-" she placed a hand on Ari's shoulder.

"If you did, I would be totally impressed!" they turned at Curtis' voice. The man was currently attempting to climb up the salmon ladder, but he was clearly struggling. In his search for Wild Dog's location, he'd been jumped by some guys and the entire ordeal left him feeling helpless. It was a feeling her never wanted to experience again. The next time he saw Oliver, and heard that he agreed to recruit a new team, he asked to be one of them.

Felicity shook her head before turning back to Ari who shook her head.

"I didn't hack you. There were some papers in Oliver's office at the house and I saw the name when I was grabbing a permission slip." Ari let out a sigh. "And this has nothing to do with just me being worried about Oliver. This is about me, wanting to help this city too. Like all of you do." she glanced over to Curtis, and shook her head. "And if this is the kind of help he has, he's going to need me." Ari walked over to the salmon ladder. "Curtis, you have to remember to breathe!"

Felicity turned to the girl who was giving pointers to Curtis. Bruce stood beside her as well, watching her.

"Richard started off young." Bruce suddenly said. "Alfred told me I was crazy, that he was just a kid, but that kid had something-" Felicity glanced over to him. "He had a fight in him. A fight that I couldn't stop. I had to give it direction." they both turned back to where Ari stood beside Curtis, motioning with her arms and legs the best way to climb the ladder. "He's trying stop something I don't think he can, and if he keeps trying-"

"It could end badly." Felicity mutters as she turns and heads back over to her computer. "Well you try telling Oliver that and see how he reacts." Bruce walked over to see what she was working on.

"Anything new on Conhan?"

"No, he was struck with an arrow and a sword. Literally overkill."

"And what you've told me about this Tobias Church guy, that's definitely not his MO."

"Totally different than the Bertinelli murder, too." Felicity pulls up a new screen showing the files from the case. "Ballistics show that he was shot by his own men." she looks over to Bruce. "That just screams Church. In Hub City, he killed every crime boss in town so he could unite everyone under one super-gang under his control." Bruce's eyes look back to the screen. A guy like this, silent for too long only meant he was planning something. Felicity looked back over to the man, leaning slightly into his jacket and he looked down to her in confusion. "What's that smell?" she stands to her feet and grabs the lapels of his jacket, and just brings her nose against his collar and sniffs, before pulling back and looking to his eyes. "That's perfume. Why do you smell like perfume? Is there something you want to tell me?" Bruce brought his hands around the woman's waist and she let out a sigh. "They're here, aren't they?"

"Got in this morning."

"Oliver is going to kill you and then me for not telling him." Felicity says before laying her head on Bruce's chest. She sniffed once more before once again pulling away and looking up to him. "Must've been one hell of a hug hello." she pulled from his grasped and sat back down at her computer. Bruce looked down to his jacket and sniffed it a bit, and sighed before walking over and pulling off the jacket to sit beside the woman. Felicity looked over to Bruce who pulled up the case files and began reading them and she couldn't help but smile. The sounds of Robyn's cries made the woman jump up and quickly run to check on her god daughter.

The meeting seemed like it was going well. Katie stood off to the side, watching as Oliver and Thea were just about wrapping up their pitch. She hadn't actually said anything, which she didn't hate. Oliver and Thea covered the important points which only verified her suspicions that they really didn't need her in here.

"In a—in a day, we can provide medical care for up to a thousand people." Oliver said looking between the CEO and vice president Janet Clark and Evan Wender.

"Plus we already have about 30 doctors and nurses just waiting to volunteer." Thea added, and both Janet and Evan glanced from Thea to Oliver.

"We're looking for a company to cover logistical expenses and-"

"Ok, you can stop." Evan says holding his hands up. "Your pitch is good, and this is definitely something I see Amertek getting behind."

"But before we get that far, I think we should hear from the actual doctor in the room," Janet said and they all glanced over to Katie who looked a bit nervous as she looked over to Oliver but turned back to Janet with a smile.

"Sure, what can I tell you that wasn't covered in this meeting?" Katie asked and Janet smiled.

"You tell me. I'm actually a bit hesitant, seeing as Robins Incorporated has been the financier of most of Mayor Queens initiatives, and now there's this one and you're shopping it around." Janet glanced over to Oliver and Thea before turning back to Katie. "We just want to make sure we're seeing the whole picture here and not stepping into something we may not make it out of."

"Ms. Clark, I can assure you that us coming to Amertek with this and not RI has absolutely nothing to do with the development of this clinic." Oliver chimed in. He turned when Katie walked over and took a seat the the boardroom table across from Janet and Evan and they turned to her.

"Do you know why free clinics are important?" she asked and they looked between one another before turning back to her. "That was rhetorical a question you don't have to answer because I'm just sitting here really hoping you do. So a study from a while back said that 8.5 percent of people in the United States are uninsured. That's about 27.5 million people. Without free clinics those people can't get a check up to catch that melanoma that's probably going to metastasize, someone's grandpa doesn't get their cardiac medication, or someone's child will have to suffer through their asthma and live a life without an inhaler." Katie looked between Janet and Evan. "Who funds this clinic isn't important. I don't care who helps get this started. It can be you or it could be the next company we meet with. That's your choice. But there aren't a lot of clinics like this around when there really should be. We're here asking you to see why this is important and to help us help the people of this city." they stare silently at her for a moment and she's not sure what to make of it.

"And what will your involvement be with this clinic?" Janet asked, and Katie just glanced over to Oliver and Thea. It was Thea who answered the question.

"Katie will be overseeing the entire thing. With her expertise in the medical field, and the fact that the people in this city respect her and support the causes she stands behind." Thea turned to Katie who tried not to express the surprise and annoyance she felt. She simply cleared her throat and turned back to Janet and Evan.

"Amertek is in, and not just for logistical expenses, for the whole thing." Janet says with a smile as she and Evan stand to her feet. She reaches out and shakes Katie's hand. "And honestly, we were in with just the logistics with the pitch from your husband and Ms. Queen, but to know you're going to be heading this up, well I would be a fool to not step all in on this." Janet and Evan walk over to Thea and Oliver, shaking both of their hands as well.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Thea says looking over to Oliver who shakes Janet's hand.

"Thank you-that's incredibly generous."

"Please. You're not only helping the people of this city, but you'd be doing us the favor." Janet says with a smile.

Evan chuckles. "And by "us," she means our stock price. Good PR is worth literally its weight in gold." they head for the door, and Oliver follows them out.

"Uh, well, we will make sure this clinic is a success and that everyone knows they have Amertek to thank for it." Oliver says closing the door behind them. He and Thea turn to Katie who looks between the two of them before turning and stalking out of the room. Oliver groans, turning to Thea.

"It really seemed like the right thing to say at the moment." she says meekly. Oliver just shook his head before going after his wife. He found her in his office, standing near the window.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea she was going to say that." Oliver walks over to stand next to her. "I will call Janet and tell her that Thea misspoke."

"Don't. Apparently my involvement was a selling point." she looks over to Oliver and lets out a sigh before letting her back fall against the window. "It's just running a clinic seems so...counterproductive to trying to get my memories back."

"Maybe not. You were a doctor at Glades Memorial for a while and then Safe Haven. Maybe working in the clinic could trigger something." Katie turned away and thought about it. Maybe being able to focus on something else for a change could also be a plus. Something that had nothing to do with her memory loss or of this life she was plopped into. Practicing medicine was always her safe place. The place that made the most sense.

"Fine," she looks over to Oliver who smiles and it just annoys her. "Stop doing that! I'm starting to feel like a push over right now. Agreeing to everything you ask, which I once promised myself I would never do." she turned away and he couldn't stop smiling, couldn't stop being happy with being in the same room as her, couldn't stop being excited with every conversation they had. She looked over to him and to see that smile and she couldn't help but to want to just grab and kiss him, and yet that nagging doubt made her turn and walk away, placing some distance between them. "Uh, I should go." she looked over to Oliver. "There's still a few things to get done for Ari's birthday party." she pulled her bag over her shoulder before pulling out her phone.

"I can come with you." he said and she looked over to him with a quirked brow.

"No you can't. You're going to be busy running your camp for wayward vigilantes." she said with a light chuckle. "I have to check out this cake and then grab Robyn from Felicity before heading home."

"Your evening sounds so much better than mine, Mrs. Queen," he says and she doesn't expect the sudden sensation in her lower regions at the man simply calling her Mrs. Queen. She bites the corner of her lip and turns from his eyes.

"Yeah, well, anyway, I should go." she turns and hurries out the door before Oliver can say another word. She hurries to the elevator, pressing the button repeatedly.

"You know that doesn't actually make the doors open any quicker." Katie looked over to see Thea. "I'm so sorry I totally stuck a foot in my mouth. I didn't mean to volunteer you for something if you're not ready."

"Thea, it's fine, I will do it." she glanced over her shoulder in time to see Oliver who was walking over. The moment the elevator doors opened, she quickly stepped inside and pressed the closed door button. Thea looked over to see her brother before slipping inside just as the doors closed.

"What the hell was that?" Thea asked and Katie looked over to her before shaking her head. "Were you just running away from Oliver?"

"Yes," Katie turned and dropped her head to the wall. "Because I'm an idiot and because stupid Nick now has my head really messed up." she turned her head to see Thea staring at her waiting for her to explain. "If I tell you something, can you promise not to tell a soul. Not even your brother." Thea frowned for a moment but nodded.

"Sure, what's going on?"

"Today in my therapy session with Nick, he suggested that I try to immerse myself fully into this life, as Katherine Queen." she turned her head back to the wall. "He said I should start with my marriage."

"What does that mean?"

"I have no idea, but he suggested I start by kissing Oliver." Katie slid her hands to her face with a shake of her head before turning back to Thea. "Which seems simple enough, but when I'm standing in front of him, sometimes it feels like we're in high school, and he's the popular guy, and I'm the geek girl he didn't want anyone to know he hung out with."

"But he doesn't feel like that now, you know that."

"Of course I know that, but the thought of me just kissing him." Katie shook her head and turned as the doors opened. "I spent years wanting to kiss Oliver Queen and I never did because I never felt like that girl." she looked over to Thea. "I know I sound ridiculous, but it still feels weird you know. To wake up one day and no longer be Katherine Robins, but Katherine Queen, Oliver Queen's wife. It's still hard to believe."

"And what will make you believe it?"

"Honestly, I have no idea." Katie waved goodbye to Thea before stepping off of the elevator. Thea watched her until the doors closed. She stood there for a moment before reaching forward and pressing the button for her floor. When the doors opened, she looked up to see her brother.

"Is she gone?"

"Yeah," she saw the disappointment wash over his face before he turned and headed back to his office. "Ollie-"

"I don't know what happened. We were talking and then she just ran out of here and I don't even know what I did." they walked into his office.

"Ollie, you didn't do anything." Thea said and her brother turned to her.

"She talked to you?"

"She did and I can't say what about, but what I can say is, you didn't anything to make her run out of here. She's just dealing with some stuff."

"Which I could help her with if she would talk to me, which she doesn't seem to want to do. I mean she talked to you instead of me."

"Which should tell you something." Thea sighed. "Look, I came back up here to suggest that you do the press on the clinic." Thea saw the look on Oliver's face and groaned.

"Actually, maybe you can."

Katie flipped through a book that showed what seemed like every themed cake under the sun. The baker in charge of making Ari's cake wanted Katie to come down for a taste test to ensure it was the right flavor. She heard a slight hum, and when she looked over she just shook her head at the sight of Steve who seemed to be enjoying the samples on a nearby table.

"Enjoying yourself?" she asked and Steve turns to her, quickly wiping his mouth with the paper towel and swallowing the bit of cake he'd just ate.

"Sorry," he once again before moving around the bakery, glancing out the window.

"So has Ari hassled you about a birthday gift yet?" Katie asked glancing back down to the book.

Steve laughed, "She has. I got her a bell." Katie looked over to him with a quirked brow and he laughed. "Me and the rest of the guys are all giving her gag gifts. Things that make noise, since shes always sneaking around." Katie chuckled before turning back to the book. She didn't turn when the bell rang as the door to the bakery opened.

"I'm here now." she heard the man's voice and lifted her head. She turned to see the man with the phone pressed to his ear. "I'm not an idiot, I can pick up a cake Claire. It's not rocket-" he turned, meeting Katie's eyes and he seemed taken aback. "I'm hanging up now." he ended the call, his eyes still looking over to Katie. "Sweets?"

"Michael?"

Michael took only a single step before Steve appeared in front of him. "Sir, I'm going to need you to keep your distance."

"Steve, it's alright." she placed a hand on his arm as she moved around and took a step closer. "I know him."

Soon Katie found herself sitting in a coffee shop, looking at another face from her past she really didn't expect to see.

"So you're the COO of my father's company?" Katie asked and Michael smiled with a nod.

"Well I was appointed when it was your company." he replied and Katie sat back in her seat with a furrowed brow and he just laughed.

"You find this amusing and I feel like I'm in the twilight zone." Katie says with a shake of her head before turning back to the man. "The last thing I remember with us was-"

"That night. That fucking, shitty night, that I will always regret." Michael says leaning forward on the table. "I know I apologized-"

"Yeah, and I still have no idea why." she replied looking over to the man. "We both realized something was missing and that night when I saw you with that girl-" Katie shrugged. "I was angry, but I also wasn't as angry as I should've been. We weren't ready to be married."

"Well honestly, I think I was ready to marry you, but there was always something holding you back." Katie turned away and let out a sigh. Michael stared at the side of her face for a moment, now only realizing just how long it's been since he's seen her. He missed her and he didn't realize how much he would miss her until she wasn't there to be annoyed by him.

"So I hired you as my COO," Katie looked back over to him. "And does Oliver know about us?"

"He knows that we were a thing way back when, maybe about the engagement, but I don't know. That was a conversation I wasn't apart of." Katie looked at him for a moment unsure what she was currently feeling right now. Once upon a forever ago, she actually thought she would spend the rest of her life with the man sitting across from her. She thought she'd finally gotten over her infatuation with Oliver, and found someone who truly loved her. "I still can't believe you're sitting here in front of me and we're having an actual conversation." He smiled and Katie remembered why she never realized sooner that the feelings she had for him weren't completely genuine. There was always something about one Michael Carroll. That thousand watt smile that made the girls just swoon. She glanced down to her hand, to her wedding ring, and smiled before looking back up to the man.

"I should probably go." Katie grabbed her bag, and reached inside for her wallet, but Michael held out a hand.

"I got it." he said and she simply nodded before standing to her feet. "Well it was good to see you, Sweets. I'm glad that husband of yours doesn't have you locked away from the world."

"I'm glad you're doing good, Mike." he brought his arms around her in a hug that she returned. When they pulled back, Katie gave him a friendly jab to the shoulder. "Make sure the Robin soars high." she looked over to Steve giving him a nod and watched as he stood to his feet and headed to the door.

"I could actually use your help with that?" Michael says and Katie turns back to him. "The company isn't doing as well as it should right now, and we believe it's because you're not there."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you coming back. That place could use that spark you have, Sweets. Annabelle has no idea what this company is and what it means to this city."

"You are aware that I'm like going through my own personal crisis with the whole memory loss thing. I can't go back to that company when I can't even remember who I truly am." Katie shook her head. "I'm sorry Michael, I wish I could help."

"Don't say no yet. Just think about it. That building still has your name on the side of it. You're the last Robins in this city, and that company was built from the blood of your family. It could use your help." Katie looked at him for a moment before giving a nod.

"I will think about it, but I'm really not making any promises. I really do have a lot going on."

"I get it, but thinking about it is all I ask." he smiled once again, that charming smile she hated and loved at the same time. She shook her head before turning and following Steve out of the door.

Oliver arrived at the bunker, stepping off the elevator, only taking a few steps before tripping over something. He looks down to the familiar purple back pack and begins scanning the bunker. He glances over to Felicity and Bruce who are focused on something on the computer. He glances over to see Curtis doing a poor job and the salmon ladder. He just doesn't see Ari.

"Get back here, stinker!" he turns at the sound of her voice followed by Robyn's laughter. He follows the sound over to the combat mats where Robyn is crawling away from Ari, who is on her hands and knees crawling behind the girl. The moment Oliver walks over, Ari looks up to him and quickly stands to her feet. "Uh, hey, you're probably wondering why I'm here." Oliver looks up to her for a moment before stepping forward and picking up Robyn who squealed in excitement when she realized it was her father who'd picked her up.

"You were supposed to go straight home. Those were the terms of your punishment." Oliver says walking over to stand in front of Ari. "This is the last place you should be." he nudged his head. "I'm taking you home."

Ari followed behind him. "Uh, you can't, you're training the baby vigilantes, remember. Plus Katie should be here soon for Robyn." Oliver stopped and turned back to her and she stood tall. "I want you to train me too." Oliver looked down to her for a moment to gauge if she was serious or not and the way she held his gaze answered his question and he just shook his head.

"Get your back pack, you're going home."

"But Oliver-"

"There are no buts!" Oliver yelled turning back to her. He felt Robyn jump in his arms and he sighed before placing a kiss to her head. "I'm sorry," he turned back to Ari who looked a bit shaken at his tone as well. "Ari, I'm sorry for yelling, but the answer is no." he turned away from her.

"Evelyn Sharp!" Ari called after him. "She's 16 years old! What makes her so different from me?" Oliver turned back to Ari, walking over to stand right in front of her.

"The difference is you have me who will not allow you to put yourself in danger. You have me to push you into do things a girl your age should be doing instead worrying about the things that happen here." They both turned at the sound of the elevator opening, and out walked Katie. "The difference between you and Evelyn is that you have a cousin who would skin me alive if I even thought of training you for this." Katie walked over with a smile as she looked between Oliver and Ari.

"What are you doing here?" she asked and Ari simply shook her head before stalking over to pick up her backpack before heading onto the elevator. Katie turned to Oliver who sighed. "Do I even want to know what that was about?"

"I tell you about it later," He replied passing Robyn over to Katie who peppered the girl in kisses the moment she was in her arms.

"Oh, I missed you so much." she placed a final kiss to her head before hugging Robyn to her chest. Oliver would never get tired of the sight.

"Oliver!" Olive lifted his head to Felicity's voice, "you're going to be late." Felicity walked down the steps to Katie.

"So how she'd do?" Katie asked as she and Felicity walked over to grab Robyn's bag. Oliver watched them for a moment before looking over to see Bruce now standing in front of him.

"You're back."

"Yeah, there was just this thing I had to do." Bruce said vaguely and Oliver just shook his head. "So a new team. Need some help training?" Oliver looked over to the man with a furrowed brow. "What. I'm being generous."

"Yeah, too generous, especially since I know you're against the whole idea of a new team."

"Hey, not everyone can handle the pressure of doing it all on their own." Bruce shrugged and Oliver scoffed. "That's not an insult, just a statement of fact."

"I might punch you for your statement," Oliver says turning and loosening his tie. "And no, I think I can handle training these guys on my own."

"Then why is Felicity going?"

Oliver shrugged. "She's there to make sure I'm not too brash." Bruce snorted and Oliver turned to him for a moment before walking away.

"Hey," Oliver stopped and looked back over to the man, clearly annoyed with this conversation as he always was. "If you want my opinion about Ari, I think maybe you should give her chance." Oliver looked at the man for a moment before stalking over to the him.

"Bruce, I will never ask for your opinion when it comes my kids, at all, so you should keep them to yourself." Bruce simply rose his hands in surrender and Oliver just turned around and headed off to get changed.

Bruce looked back up as Katie and Felicity were heading back over. "Hey, how about I head to the house with you guys?" Katie turned to him and shrugged.

"Sure, but you're not helping Oliver with training?"

"Apparently he doesn't need my help." Bruce said before walking over and placing a kiss to Felicity's cheek. "Plus I think I would rather spend my night hanging out with this beautiful girl," Bruce pulled Robyn from Katie's arms and watched as he tickled the girl who erupted in a fit of laughter. He turned back to Katie. "I'll get them up to the car," Katie nodded before watching the man walking over to the elevator. She looked over to Felicity who had a look as she watched Bruce stepping onto the elevator.

"That's a look," Katie says and Felicity looks over to her in confusion. "I know seeing a man holding a baby causes certain emotions. Trust me, I know. So are those emotions telling you that you're ready to have kids?" Felicity opened her mouth to speak, but closed her mouth because she really wasn't sure what to say. Katie suddenly shook her head. "I'm sorry, that is like a really personal question and I should not have asked that."

Felicity placed a hand on Katie's arm and shook her head. "No, that's a totally valid question for you to ask me. We're best friends, and to answer your question, yes, I may have thought once or twice about me and Bruce having kids."

"Have you guys ever talked about kids?"

"No, not really. That's one of those serious conversations we've never ventured into."

"Well you have the look, so maybe you should venture." They turned to see Oliver now dawned as the Green Arrow. Felicity looked over to Katie who had her own look at the moment.

"You have a look too and it's also pretty obvious." Felicity chuckled before looking over to Oliver. "I'll meet you over there." he gave her a nod before grabbing his quiver and pulling it over his shoulder and plucking his bow from the stand.

"You know I don't think I will ever get used to seeing you like this." Katie says as Oliver walks over to her. "You wear a lot of hats, Mr. Queen. Mayor, vigilante, dad-"

"Husband," he added and she met his eyes to see that smile once again. That smile that twisted her insides. She needed to go. She took a step back.

"I should go. They're waiting for me." she quickly walked over to the elevator, before glancing over to Oliver. "Good luck tonight." when the doors opened, she stepped inside, turning to see him still standing there watching her until the doors slide closed.

Felicity had hope that training wouldn't be as painful as she was currently witnessing. Everything started off cool as she walked into see their three trainees. With Curtis, there was Rene AKA Wild Dog, and the young sixteen year old Evelyn Sharp. The lesson seemed simple enough. Get passed Oliver and ring the bell behind him. She grimaced once again when she watched as Oliver slammed Rene to the ground hard.

"Get on the line!" Oliver's modulated voice ordered, and he watched the three recruits hobble back to the line in exhaustion.

Felicity let out a sigh when her phone suddenly vibrated. She looked down with a furrowed brow at the notification and when she swiped up her eyes went wide at the picture she saw. She glanced back up to see another round of knock down the amateurs and so she stepped forward.

"Alright, I think we should call it a night." Oliver looked up to her and she just gave a nod.

"Fine, we will meet back here, tomorrow, same time." Oliver turned and walked over to Felicity who quickly walked with him out. "What's going on?" Felicity opened her mouth, but stopped when she heard another beep, but this one not from her phone. She looked over to Oliver who reached inside of his vest and pulled out his cell phone. Felicity looked slightly nervous as she watched his reaction. "Evan Wender was attacked." he looked up to Felicity who looked at him for a moment. "Is that what you were going to tell me?"

"Um, not really."

That night, Oliver sat in his car, glancing up to his house before looking back to his phone which was stuck on one photograph. Said photograph was taken earlier today. It showed his wife, in a very friendly embrace from Michael Carroll. The image stirred something inside Oliver. Something he was afraid would come crashing out the moment he saw his wife, which is why he now sat in the car. Trying to make sense of the picture. Trying to come up with a story to explain it. But he couldn't stop looking at it. Seeing this guy's hands wrapped around her just made him so angry.

Oliver looked up at the sound of the front door, and when he looked up he sighed at the sight of Bruce walking over to the car. Bruce looked into the car at the man and Oliver just stepped out.

"So you saw the picture?" Bruce asked and Oliver glared at the man. "It was just hug that the press turned into something it wasn't." Oliver didn't say anything as he shook his head. "Oliver, listen to me, if you go in that house and do what I'm afraid you're going to do, you will lose her." Oliver looked over to him. "Every picture has a story. That picture of her and Michael has a story, just like that picture of you and Annabelle. Just let Robins tell you the story before you react." Oliver didn't say anything as he turned to walk inside the house.

When he stepped inside, he looked up to see Katie stepping from the kitchen. She stopped when she saw him.

"Hey," she walked over, clearly noticing his rigid stature. That's how she knew he saw the picture. Right now he wasn't relaxed, or even comfortable. "Where would you like to start?"

They ended up in the kitchen, both staring down to their mugs of coffee.

"It really was just a chance encounter with an old friend."

"Old friend?" Oliver asked looking over to her. "I remember your interactions with him before and you two never seemed liked friends. You've never used that term to describe him." Katie looked at him for a moment, once again dropping her head.

"Well I use the term because I have absolutely no idea what other term to use. He was this guy who was once a big part of my life, we broke up and then I ran into him at a bakery." she looked over to Oliver. "We had coffee, we talked , and then I left to pick up my daughter."

"Well there's a hug in there you seem to be excluding from the story," Katie took note of his tone and she wasn't sure what the make of it. This was clearly jealousy, which she understood. She'd seen a picture with Oliver and Annabelle that didn't have as much contact, and yet it still brought out that ugly green monster. But in time, she realized it wasn't what she imagined in her head. She wished Oliver could see that this picture really just showed hug with a friend, nothing else. He still wasn't looking at her. "I'm here, trying to be everything you need."

"And I appreciate that Oliver, I appreciate everything you do, for me and those kids." he looked over to her. "Why don't you tell me what's really the problem?" Oliver turned away without a word.

"Ironic isn't it? You wanting me to talk to you, but when I want you to talk to me, all you do is run away from me." he slid his chair back and stood to his feet. "I'm going to have a busy day tomorrow with this Wender attack and I should get some sleep." he didn't wait for her to respond before turning and walking toward the stairs.

"Wait," Katie stands to her feet and he stops and lets out a sigh turning to her. "You think I'm running away from you?"

"I don't think. Today, at my office you ran away, at the bunker, you ran away." Oliver shook his head. "Obviously, there's something here with me that you're running away from. Katie, I get that waking up with no memory of this, of us, is a lot and if you think this isn't what you want." he paused hoping for some sort of argument or rebuttal to the statement, but she just continued to silently stare at him and he can feel his heart break in that moment. He shook his head before turning and heading upstairs.

"Wait!" Katie said again and Oliver stopped and turned back to her. "Right now, this moment, I feel like crap and apparently you feel like crap because there is an issue right here. Right now. That issue isn't fixed." she shook her head. "You don't walk away until its fixed." she turned back to him and he looked at her for a moment, suddenly remembering the promise they made to each other. They didn't walk away from an argument, or disagreement, they stuck in it until they figured it out. He gave a nod before walking back over to stand in front of her. "Oliver, I'm not running away from you, and I'm sorry you feel as if I am." she closed her eyes and let out heavy sigh. "The truth is I'm still trying to figure this out." she opened her eyes and looked up to him. "Being Robyn's mother, it comes natural, being Ari's Guardian, I can do that, but being your wife—" she dropped her eyes from his because that intense feeling he always stirred inside of her threatened to steal her words. "Before waking up in an ARGUS medical facility, my last recollection of a relationship with you was just friends." she looked up to his eyes. "There was this line, you on one side, and me on the other. And from my side all my feelings were kept safe and to myself where they could never be shot down or poked fun of."

"That would never happen." Oliver promised and Katie held his gaze for a moment before shaking her head.

"Three and a half years go, she-" she swallowed the emotion in throat and looked back up to him. "I figured out that it was safe to cross the line." she took a step toward him, closing the distance as she lifted hand and rested it on his chest. "The me right now is trying to figure that out, so please just be patient with me." Oliver took in her words and wanted to kick himself. He knew she was adjusting to a life she didn't remember, and yet he just wanted her...all of her. He wanted to touch her and kiss her and make love to her. She was right, he just needed to be patient. He would wait for as long as she needed.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't-" she dropped her head to his chest and he brought his arms around her in hug. "Don't apologize for how you feel. I get that this is tough on you too." Oliver tightened his grasp, relishing in the feeling of this woman in his arms. They stood like that for a while before they heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. Both lifted their heads and turned as the door to the kitchen pushed open and in walked Thea.

"Oh-" Thea came to a stop the moment she walked in to see that she'd just interrupted a moment she wished she hadn't. "Sorry, I'll just head up to bed."

"Thea, it's fine." Katie says pulling from Oliver's reluctant grasp. "I actually wanted to talk to you. Uh, this Clinic, could you get me everything you have so far. I'd like to read over it a bit so I will at least know what I'm getting into."

"Of course, I actually have some stuff up in my room, I'll bring it over."

"Thanks," Katie glanced over to Oliver. "I'm going to head up to bed. Good night."

"Good night," Oliver watched as Katie turned and walked up the stairs and he lets out a sigh the moment she was out of sight.

"You overreacted about the picture, didn't you?"

"I did." Oliver turned back to his sister.

"But you guys looked like you figured it out." Thea watched as Oliver turned away as if thinking about something. "Ollie, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm going to head to bed too," he turned back to his sister and placed a kiss to her cheek.

"Ok, well good night, don't forget we're meeting with Janet tomorrow. Hopefully this attack won't cause her from funding the clinic."

"We'll talk to her." Oliver assured before turning and heading upstairs.

The next morning, with Oliver and Thea off to meet with Janet, Katie found herself standing outside of Ari's door. She took a step forward, and knocked.

"Ari, it's me, can I come in?" Katie tilted her head as she waited for a response, but nothing came. "Hey, you're upset, and I'm here to listen." the door suddenly swung open and appeared the glare of the teen.

"Since when?!" Ari snapped angrily before turning and storming back into her room. "Neither one of you ever listen to me. You tell me what to do like I'm a child." Katie walked into Ari's room, but giving the girl some space as she lets her back fall on the wall behind her. "For once I want you to listen to me and actually hear what I'm saying." Ari turned back to Katie and let out a huff.

"Tell me." Ari folded her arms over her chest.

"I want to join Oliver's new team." Ari said, and she paused, waiting for the expected argument, but her cousin didn't say anything as she continued to stare. "That's it, that's what I wanted to say."

"That can't be it, Ari. What you're asking is big, and you haven't told me anything that would even convince me to be ok with this. Why should I allow this?"

"Well because-" Ari took a step forward. "I trained with Nyssa, and I know you and her have issues, but she's nice to me and she helped me. I can defend myself now." Katie looked at her for moment, as if waiting for her to continue. Ari soon realized that probably wasn't the best argument. "And, I'm familiar with the Felicity's tech, so if she decides to up and head back to Gotham, I'm a great substitute." she paused again, and Katie quirked a brow. "I really don't know what else you want me to say."

"You still haven't told me why you want to do this." Ari dropped her eyes and Katie walked over to her. "Ari-"

"You probably read about the story of Damien Darhk taking me, right?" Ari looked up to Katie who let out a sigh, but nodded. She remembers reading the story and the feeling of anger that washed over her. "He had me for days, and I was so scared. Like I was terrified that I wasn't going ever get home, and that smug prick just laughed in my face." Ari stood tall. "I want to do this to stop people like Damien Darhk. I want to do this for people out there, who were like me and Will. Victims of some mad man and used as pawns. There are more people out there like Damien Darhk, and I want to help bring them down." Katie looked at her for a moment, before placing a hand on her cheek. "I can do this." Katie saw the look in the girl's eyes and she honestly didn't doubt that she could. There was just something about this, something about letting her out there to risk her life, that she couldn't just get past. "Please just think about it."

She could at least think about it, Katie thought. "Ok," Katie pulled her arms around the girl in hug. She'd be lying if she said she didn't understand the girl's motivation. It wasn't unheard of that people who'd been victimized would want to prevent it from happening ever again, to themselves or others. Katie placed a kiss to the side of her head. "Ok, get ready for school," with that she turned for the door as Ari went to grab her back pack. Katie stopped when curiosity suddenly got the best of her. She looked back over to Ari. "Who's Will?" Ari stopped and looked over to her cousin. "I remember reading that he'd been taken by Damien, but there was never a reason given." Ari turned away and shrugged.

"I don't know. His mom and Oliver were friends I guess, maybe it was a way to manipulate Oliver." Ari replied and Katie simply nodded before walking back into the hall. She stood there for a moment before turning and heading to her room, and grabbing the laptop and flipping it open. She pulled up the article once again.

"Samantha Clayton?" Katie lifted her head, the name not ringing any bells. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something with this. She glanced back down to the article, scrolling down until she saw a picture of William and his mother. Katie tilted her head a bit, zooming in on William's face. It was his eyes that made her gasp, snap the laptop closed and toss it on her bed.

Thea let out a heavy sigh as she watched Oliver walking Janet out of his office. He'd just promised her that if her company didn't pull their funding from the clinic, that the city would indemnify Amertek if anything happened at the opening. It could possibly cost them millions, and yet her brother was a risk taker.

Once Janet was gone, Thea walked over to her Oliver. "So is the plan to see to it personally with the new team?" Oliver turned to her with a shake of his head.

"No. They're nowhere near ready."

"Then what's the backup plan? Twinkie?"

Oliver sighed but once again shook his head. "No, just Me. I'm not sure if I should test the waters with my wife after last night. Plus I will be fine. It's one of the advantages of having the mayor moonlighting as a vigilante."

"Or the vigilante moonlighting as mayor." Thea said as Oliver opened the door. Her eyes widened when she saw Katie standing, baby Robyn in her stroller. "Oh, hey!" Thea quickly came over to coo over the baby who only giggled at her aunt. Katie smiled before looking up to Oliver who looked happy, but confused as well.

She was being crazy. And yet when Katie saw her daughter this morning, looked in her eyes she couldn't stop thinking about that boy whose eyes were exactly the same. She wasn't sure she wanted to know, and yet she felt as if she should be told.

"Hey, two visits in a row." Oliver says walking over to her. "Not that I'm complaining. I live for these visits." Oliver reached down and picked up Robyn, kissing her cheek before turning back to Katie who looked slightly nervous about something. "Was everything alright?"

"Uh yeah, I-" she stumbled over her words as she began to doubt if coming here to broach the topic of a secret child with him after their tiff last night. She let out a sigh and just shook her head.

"Hey I know, how about I go show Robyn off while you two talk." Thea said plucking the child from her Oliver's arms before heading off. Oliver turned back to Katie before pulling open the door. She walked inside, sliding her hands through her hair seriously regretting doing this.

"Twinkie about last night, I really am sorry for-"

"I told you not to apologize for that," she turned back to face him. "I'm not here because of that." Oliver frowned slightly at the seriousness of her tone. Did she remember something?

"Ok, what's going on?" he asked and Katie looked at him for a moment, opening her mouth only to close it. She closed her eyes, trying to muster up the nerve to ask this question and so with one final deep breath, she opened her eyes and walked over to stand in front of him.

"Do you have a son named William Clayton ?" Oliver assumed he looked as if he'd been punched in the gut after she asked the question. Will was a topic he definitely didn't know how to explain to her, even though he truly did plan on telling her. He should've figured that at some point the news could come out before he could. She waited for him to say something...anything, and yet she soon realized his silence was the answer she was waiting for. "He is, isn't he?"

At this point, Oliver only saw one course of action. The truth. He opened his mouth to respond, but his office phone rang. He let out a sigh, glancing over to the phone.

"You should get it." Katie says backing away with a shake of her head. "This was...I don't know what this was." she turned back to him and shrugged. "I'm not even completely sure what I wanted to happen which seems be aligning with all of my crazy so far." she turned grabbing Robyn's baby bag before turning back to Oliver who hadn't moved from that spot in front her even as the phone continued to ring. She let out a huff before walking over and picking up the phone. "Mayor Queen's office," she frowned before looking over to Oliver. "Actually this is Katherine Queen, Arianna's guardian. Can you tell me what happened?"

The moment they arrived at the school, Katie pushed open the door and hurried down the hallway, Oliver in step beside her pushing Robyn in her stroller. If she weren't completely worried right now, she might pause and take in the fact that she was walking down the halls of her old high school. Right now she couldn't remember the terrible high school years. She hurried into the office, the receptionist whipping her head up the moment Katie bolted in there.

"Hi, I'm here for Arianna Locke. I was told she was in a fight."

"Mr. and Mrs. Queen-" Oliver and Katie turned to the old gray haired principal, Mr. Theodore Harris. He'd been the principal for years, even when they attended. "If you would come in my office, please." Katie glanced over to Oliver who took her hand before they walked into the office. "Please have a seat." Katie shook her head.

"I'm not sitting, where is Ari?" she was getting quite impatient. She wasn't told much over the phone, just that there was a fight and that they needed to come right away.

"Ari is alright. She's a bit scraped up, so I sent her to the nurse, but-" Katie no longer listened to the man before she huffed and turned to storm out of the office. Oliver let out a sigh, grabbing the handle of the stroller about to follow. "Mr. Queen, we really need talk about this. Now the fight seemed to be instigated by a boy in Arianna's class, but she threw the first punch. The parents are threatening legal action if something isn't done about this." Oliver slid a hand over his face before looking back to the principal. "They've agreed to a mediation to possibly discuss what happened and how to prevent this from happening again. If nothing is done, they will pursue this, and deem it as showing favoritism because she's the child of the Mayor."

"Fine, a mediation is fine. Call my office with a time and me and my wife will be here." Oliver turned stalked out of this office. This was definitely new territory. When it came to school, he never worried about Ari. He's seen her grades, talked to some of her teachers and they all say how intelligent she is. They mention how much they enjoy her in class. She never got into trouble in school. For this to be happening now, he could only assume the reason. Oliver stepped through the familiar halls, turning a corner and walking into the nurse's office where she found the nurse standing in the corner as Katie seemed to be tending to Ari's scrapes.

Ari looked over to Oliver the moment he walked in and she let out a sigh before turning away from his expected gaze.

"Fighting, really?" he asked and Ari didn't say anything as she watched her cousin smoothing a bandage on her arm. "What do you have to say for yourself?" she just continued to ignore him as she hopped from the table and grabbed her backpack. She headed for the door, and as expected Oliver moved to block her. "Arianna, you need to talk to me right now."

"I have been talking, you're just not listening." she slipped around him out of the office and Oliver let out a deep breath before looking over to Katie who met his gaze.

"It's our job to deal with that, right?" Katie asked and Oliver cracked a smile but gave a nod.

"Yes it is."

"That's what I thought." Katie says before turning to the nurse who seemed stuck in that corner. "Alright, nurse Waters, so I've taken a peak at what you have stocked here and it's not enough. I would like to rectify that."

When they pulled into the driveway, Ari was the first to get out of the car, slamming the door as she stormed into the house. Oliver and Katie sat there for moment, needing a few more moments of quiet.

"She really wants to do this," Katie says and Oliver looks over to her. "The vigilante thing." Oliver rubbed her eyes with his fingers before dropping his head back to the seat.

"I know, but that's definitely not happening. She doesn't even know what she's asking. She has this fantasy of what I do, and-"

"Why did you tell her about any of it?" Katie asked and Oliver turned to her. "You obviously don't want her involved in that part of your life, so why did you tell her?" Oliver looked at her for a moment. Telling Ari the truth about who he was, was a difficult decision. Most of the time he's positive he made the wrong decision, but in that moment she could see that there was something going on around her, and he couldn't lie to her. He wanted her to be aware of his life and the dangers tied to his life. He didn't expect her to latch on to it as tightly as she has.

"At the time, it seemed to be my only choice." Oliver says vaguely. It was the truth. Katie was off somewhere possessed by an evil entity and Ari, being the great observer that she was, knew something was wrong and because she's just as stubborn as her cousin, she wouldn't let it go. Katie watched as he turned away, and that's how she knew there was probably more to that explanation. "How we ended up here doesn't really matter much, does it. We're here and we need to deal with this?" Katie turned away as well, her eyes looking over to the flowers that beautifully bloomed in her neighbor's yard.

"The boy she had a fight with, he called her little orphan Ari," Katie says looking back to Oliver who turned to her. "Said her dad was dead, and her mom's gonna rot in prison until she's dead, and she lucked out with the rich Daddy and Mommy Queen-Bucks." Oliver shook his head.

"Is it wrong that I'm glad she hit him?" Oliver asked and Katie laughed.

"Well if you're wrong, then I'm wrong too. Looks like Ari has found herself her own Tommy Merylyn, At least she had the courage to stand up for herself." she chuckled with a shake of her head. "I wonder what that idiot is up to?" she glanced over to Oliver, seeing the grim look on his face. "What?"

"Tommy died almost three years ago," Oliver said and Katie frowned turning away, suddenly struck with sadness. She'd made peace with Tommy, called him a friend. The last time she saw him, he made some stupid joke about her being the next Dr. Quinn medicine woman. Up to this point, she actually expected to run in to him and he'd make some totally insensitive joke about her amnesia and she'd pretend to hate it, even though she'd love the familiarity of something that actually made sense.

"My friend's dead, and I can't even remember. How messed up is that?" she dropped her head back on her seat and closed her eyes. "Today's just throwing a plethora of unexpected information at me. My cousin wants to fight crime, you have a secret son, and my friend's dead. And I'm pretty sure, at one point or another I actually knew all of these things." she glanced over to Oliver and sighed. "This really sucks." he reached over and took her hand and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying.

"I should've told you about Will. I planned on telling you, I just couldn't figure out how to even start that conversation."

"And, you didn't think, 'Hey Twinkie, just so you know I have a son by another woman', would work?" she looked over to Oliver and he slid a hand over his face.

"It is not an easy conversation to have." he looked over to her. "And yes, you did know about him." she looked at him for a moment before her eyes looked down to their hands.

"He's older...so before..us, right?" she didn't want to meet his eyes. She was afraid that if he looked at her, he'd see just how much weight the answer to that question held in this moment. He gave her hand a squeeze and she finally turned to him.

"A really long time before us." he assured her. He turned away and sighed. "He's got to be about eleven now." Katie saw the ghost of a smile on his face.

"They're not in Star City?"

"Yeah, it was too dangerous. They lived in Central City and there was always the chance that someone would try to hurt them to get to me. Now they live some where far, and safe, at least that's what I hope. I don't have their location. Which is also another safety measure."

"That's kind of ridiculous," Oliver turned to her with a look of confusion. "Was I ok with that decision?" she looked at him after hearing his words and she couldn't fathom the idea of letting him send his son away to protect him, not when he had Ari and Robyn here as if those same dangers didn't apply to them. Oliver turned away slightly. "Let me guess, it was one of those things where you were going to tell me, you just couldn't find the right time." Oliver turned to her, looking at her in her eyes.

"You know I have this fear," he looked down to their conjoined hands before bringing her hand up and brushing a kiss to her fingers. "That one day I am going to just mess everything up and you're going to see just how much better you could do without me." he lifted his eyes to hers and she silently stared at him with an expression he couldn't read. The moment was interrupted when Oliver's phone suddenly rang and he shook his head.

"You're a very popular guy, Mr. Mayor." she reached into his pocket and answered his phone because at this point she knew that he never would. He seemed intent on not answering his phone in the middle of a conversation with her. She glanced down to the phone and saw Felicity's face before bringing the phone to her ear. "Hi Felicity."

"Oh, hi, I thought I called Oliver."

"You did, but he was doing that thing he does where he ignores his calls in an effort to prove how important a conversation with me is."

"That's kind of swoon-worthy," Felicity said and Katie looked over to Oliver who tried to decipher what they were talking about.

"A bit," Katie replied. "So did you have new information on what happened to Evan?"

"Not yet, I was just calling to remind Oliver to maybe use a bit more tact when dealing with our new recruits tonight. The whole bees and honey analogy could be very educational."

"How bad was he?" Oliver looked over to her with a furrowed brow, now wondering if they were still talking about him. She looked over to him and rose a brow as she chuckled at something Felicity said. "A bell huh? Well I'm sure there is reason behind his madness, but I will pass along your message." she handed him his phone and turned in her seat to face him. "Why do I get the feeling that your reluctance with Ari has more to do with your training methods."

"That's not it. She's not ready for this life. Plus there's so much she could be doing, things kids her age should be doing."

"Except she's not like kids her age. One of her guardian's is a vigilante and the other just woke up from a coma without any memory of the last couple of years of her life." Katie let out a sigh. "The problem is we don't think she's ready for this, but she thinks she is. One of us needs to be proven wrong."

"You're suggesting I actually train her?" Oliver sat there slightly confused. He assumed he already knew what her answer to that question would be.

"Well not with your current training technique. I'll think of something." she gave a nod, turning away in thought.

"We're going to have to meet with this guy's parents." Oliver said with a shake of his head. "To talk about what happened and how we can make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Well that's easy, they just have teach their son how not to be a little asshole." Katie says turning back to Oliver. "But as history has taught me, assholes are only bread from asshole parents which means, this whole situation may end with someone else getting punched." she let out a deep breath. "Alright, I'll go talk to her, and you can go play the vigilante trainer from hell." without really thinking, she turned and pressed a kiss to his cheek. It was the exact moment after that she realized what she'd done, and suddenly froze. Oliver turned to face her, their faces now a hairs breadth apart. "I just kissed you." Oliver smiled, his eyes looking to her, before trailing to her lips.

"You did. How do you feel about that?" she thought of the question, that minuscule of space between them only clouded her thoughts. Also clouded her inhibitions...which is the only reason why she thought to lean in, but soon the wailing of the toddler in the backseat stole the moment. They both pulled away before turning back to Robyn.

"Alright, little bird, let's get you in the house." Katie says before turning back to Oliver. "I'll see you later."

That evening after getting Robyn all settled for bed, Katie once again found herself standing outside of Arianna's door. She's been attempting to figure out what to do, and all roads seemed to lead to only one choice. She walked over to the door, and knocked. She listened for a moment, and when nothing was said right away, she thought that maybe the girl was asleep.

"Come in."

Katie sighed before pushing open the door to find Ari sitting on her bed doing home work. Katie walked over glancing at what she was doing and slightly whistled.

"This is AP Trig," she looked over to Ari. "I didn't take this until I was a senior."

"Yeah, I guess some of my teachers think I need a bit more of challenge. I'm in a few AP classes this year," Ari glanced back down as she continued writing. "So am I grounded?"

"That's still under deliberation. I mean given the situation I understand the desire to punch someone like that guy." she took a seat on the side of the bed and Ari looked over to her. "But in certain situations we also have to practice restraint. You have to assess the situation and determine an appropriate course of action." Ari looked over to her cousin for a moment before sitting down her notebook.

"You know that kind of sounded like the advice from someone training someone else in situational awareness, and if I'm not mistaken that is required knowledge for a vigilante."

"It is, but that's not why I told you. Ari, I get that you're all confident now in your ability to defend yourself, and you don't want to feel like a victim, but when you're in school and some punk kids says some stupid things to you, you have to take the non violent route." she stood to her feet and looked down to the teen. "You have to be able to determine when and if violence is necessary, because there are some situations that can be solved with that brain of yours." and with that she turned and headed for the door, but stopped and turned back to her. "And that was the advice of someone who will be training a possible vigilante." Ari's eyes brightened as she stood to her feet. "Ari, you want to do this, you believe you can, well now you're going to prove it to me."

"What about Oliver? He said-"

"I know what he said, and we're not really going against what he made clear. We're not training you to be a vigilante, but a-"

"Possible vigilante, right," Ari said a smile coming to her face as she headed over. "So when do we start?"

"Finish your homework and then change into something you can move around in and meet me downstairs." Ari nodded before turning and quickly grabbing her book to finish her work. Katie stood there at the door a few moments longer watching the girl.

"This is so fucking crazy," she thought.

Felicity once again grimaced as she watched Oliver took down Everlyn, Curtis and Rene one by one. They'd been at it for hours, their perspective team at this point covered in bruises. She glanced down to her phone seeing a message from Bruce. It was a video file with an attached sad puppy emoji. She shook her head before opening the attachment. It was the video from Evan's attack. She frowned as she saw something that looked impossible.

Felicity glanced up about to call down to Oliver when her phone suddenly rang. She looked down to Bruce's face and sighed before bringing the phone to her ear.

"Hello Mr. Wayne," she greeted.

" _Hello Ms. Smoak, did you get my message?"_

"I did, thanks for sending this...whatever this is to me. I now have only more questions." she glanced down to Oliver. "I should probably tell Oliver, once he finishes this ridiculous training."

" _Oh, so you're still there?"_

"Yeah...why?"

" _Nothing...just, it was getting late and I assumed you'd be heading home."_ Felicity quirked a brow before turning and walking away from the commotion of the training. " _I guess coming back really did mean coming back."_

"And what does that mean?" Felicity asked. "Oliver needs a team, and I'm here to make sure he doesn't push them so hard that they walk. This is what I do." Bruce was silent for a moment and Felicity let out a sigh.

" _You're right, I'm just being selfish with wanting you all to myself. I'm sorry Ms. Smoak, I'll let you get back to it."_

He ended the call, and Felicity pulled back the phone now feeling slightly guilty. She began to wonder if she'd let team life occupy more of her time than her time with him since they've been back. She let out a sigh before walking back to the overlook about to call down to Oliver.

"On the line!" Oliver ordered.

Rene shook his head as he stood out of breath. "I'm here to learn something, man, not just get beat up."

"I told you. I'm teaching you."

"Teaching us what, exactly?" Evelyn chimed. "Because, actually, I find myself agreeing with the scary, weird guy."

"The goal of this exercise is to figure out the goal of this exercise. Now get on the line!" Oliver turned about to walk back over to the bell.

"Then why isn't your other sidekick trying to figure out the goal of this mission?" Rene asked and Oliver stopped and turned back to him. "That kid from the night you shot me with that damn arrow. The one who almost blew us up,"

"Actually you're the one who almost blew us up," Oliver stalked over to stand in front of the man. "She actually had a greater chance of disarming that bomb than you."

"Who is she?" Evelyn asked and Oliver looked over to her really not liking Ari being a topic right now. He turned back to Rene.

"She's no one, and she's never coming here. Now on the line!"

"Actually, Green Arrow, can I talk to you for a second?" Felicity called and Oliver looked over to her. "Now."

The second Ari finished her homework she quickly changed into a pair of yoga pants and a tshirt and headed down stairs. She stopped and looked around for her cousin. Ari turned to see Katie coming from the kitchen, her hand digging inside a box of cookies wearing the same clothes she'd been wearing before.

"You're not changed," Ari said and Katie looked down to her clothes and shook her head.

"Oh, I didn't need to change. Come with me." Katie says moving around the girl. With a furrowed brow, Ari turned and followed. Ari started to get confused as they ventured to a part of the house she usually never went. It was the hallway, the door that lead to the basement at the end.

"Are we going down the basement?" Ari asked.

"Yep, is that a problem?"

"I mean no, but I've never actually be down that basement since I've lived here." Ari said as they reached the door. Katie stopped and looked over to her. "It had the weird keypad lock and you always said you kept it locked because of your high tech washer and dryer that could blow the house up," Ari turned away only now realizing how stupid that sounded. "I have no idea why I never questioned that."

"Yeah, well the washer and dryer are pretty cool, but I'm assuming that's probably why you weren't allowed down here." Katie turned, entering a code into the keypad. "I actually was recently reintroduced to this basement that apparently I designed for one purpose." Ari followed Katie down the stairs. There were no lights so she didn't see anything. The moment her foot touched the floor, the lights suddenly came on, and she was met with the sight of a massive space, a washer and dryer off to one side, a desk and a chair to the other. There were a few boxes around, and Ari found herself not very impressed.

"It's just a basement," she said and Katie looked over to her and chuckled.

"Yep, it's just a basement on this side, but-" Katie walked over to a far wall and reach up and flipped a switch that suddenly opened the wall to reveal a secret room. "So this room was later discovered apparently when I was in a coma, Ari followed Katie into the room, her eyes going to the combat mat in the corner , there was a hanging punching bag, and a dummy. Her eyes soon went up to the walls that seemed to be covered in various combat weapons. "I think I've been down here once and got freaked out and never came back down."

"Freaked out, why? This place is awesome." Ari says walking forward to get a better look around. Katie watched her as she looked around the room. She wanted to tell her that she didn't think this room was awesome. When Oliver brought her down here and showed her this room, it only solidified the fact that she really did change. He said she would come down here to let out her aggression, and free the darkness from the years of torture and to her that made sense. She would need an outlet...something like this was probably therapeutic. But then he told her that over time she stopped coming down here, but he didn't know why. This place was just a reminder that she had no idea how she fixed what she felt was broken inside of her.

Ari rubbed her hands together before turning back to Katie. "Ok, so where are we starting."

"Oh, nothing in here, I was just showing you that the basement was more than a basement. You're going to be in the front." Katie says turning and walking and Ari followed in confusion. Katie reached over and flipped the switch to close off the room before walking over to the desk. Ari walked over to stand beside her now noticing the candle and a box of matches. Katie reached down, plucking a match from the box and striking a flame to light the candle. "Your first lesson is to blow out that candle." she looked over to Ari and she had to restrain herself from not laughing at the perplexed look on her face. "The only rules, you can't blow it out with your mouth, or your hands or feet or actually any part of your body."

"So I can't physically do anything? What am I supposed to do, blow it out with my mind?"

"Well that's what you have to figure out?" Katie gave her a pat on the shoulder. "I'll be upstairs if need me." and with that Katie skipped upstairs.

Ari turned back to the flickering flame of the candle and just rolled her eyes.

That evening when Oliver arrived home, he noticed more guards visible around the house and quickly got out of his car.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked to no one in particular, but expected someone to answer.

"Everything is fine Mr. Queen," Oliver turned to Hank who walked over. "Mrs. Queen is sitting in the backyard, and we're just being a extra cautious per your orders." Oliver let out a sigh. Since the incident with Church, Oliver has made it a point with the security protecting his family to be extra vigilante.

"Right, thanks," Oliver gave the man a nod before walking into the house. He glanced around finding it very quiet as he pulled off his jacket and began rolling up his sleeves. He headed through the house toward the backdoor. When he stepped out, he glanced around but didn't see her right away.

"She climbed the tree," a voice spoke and Oliver turned to see Steve standing near the base of the stairs. Oliver frowned slightly as he walked down toward the man.

"I thought you had the day off?"

"Yeah, well my day didn't work out the way I thought it would." Steve looking over to Oliver and just shrugged.

"Anything I can do?" Steve gave a slight smile but shook his head. Oliver gave the man a pat on the shoulder. It was Steve who Diggle introduced to him when he decided to bring in some security for their home. Apparently they served in the army a while ago. There were always similarities between the two that Oliver always noticed. It's probably why he trusted the man and his team with the lives of his family. "Well if you need anything, just let me know."

Oliver turned and headed out into the yard that was only illuminated by a few lights. He walked over to the tell tree that sat a bit further from the house, and looked up to see her feet dangling as she sat on a limb. He chuckled and she looked down to him.

When they were kids, she would always climb this tree and he never would. He'd always had a bit of a fear with heights when he was younger, something she knew very well. Whenever they were playing and he would chase her, she would always climb this tree to get away from him and he always hated it.

"You coming up?"

Years later, suffice to say he no longer had a fear of heights and so he walked over and jumped to grabbed the lowest hanging limb and used it to pull himself into the tree. Climbing up further, he maneuvered himself to sit beside her. He lifted his eyes to see the lights of their neighborhood and some distant lights of the city.

"It's been a while since you've been in this tree." Oliver looked over to her and she just stared down into the empty cookie box in her hand. "How did it go with Ari?" Katie glanced over to him and sighed.

"She's still working on her first lesson." she nudged her head back to the house. "She hasn't come back up so I don't think she got it."

"So we're actually doing this?" Oliver asked and Katie just looked back down to her box, hoping cookies would magically appear. She'd been sitting in this tree stress eating since she actually made the decision to do this and now she was questioning everything. "It's dangerous-"

"I know-"

"She could get hurt, like seriously injured."

"I know that too,"

"Then why are you considering this?" Oliver asked and Katie looked over to him. He was so worried about Ari. She wasn't his daughter, but he felt that intense need to keep her just as safe as he would keep Robyn and Katie. They were all his girls and it was his duty to protect them until his dying breath, and he felt like letting Ari do this was just a risk they didn't have to take. "Twinkie, you don't know the dangers that lie in those streets the way I do. It's no place for a child. I don't want her to do this."

"I know that as well, but after all of that, she's still determined. So we can say no, but I doubt that stops her. She's like Jeremy in that way," Oliver turned away at that and she saw the way his jaw clenched. "Us telling her no won't stop her, and I think you know that. What we can do is control this. We can get her to see exactly what she's getting herself into because I think you were right, she does have this fantasy of what this is. Let's show her in a way that teaches her and stills keeps her safe, and if at the end of it she still wants to do this-" Oliver turned to her. "We're going to have to let her." she turned and dropped her head on his shoulder. "And you're going to have to help because I have no idea how to train someone to dress like the uni-bomber and go out and fight crime." Oliver laughed as he brought an arm around her. He knew she was right, that telling Ari no has proven in the past to just be a sure fire way to get the girl to do the complete opposite of what he wants her to do.

"So what's the first lesson?" he asked and she let out a snort.

"Well it's kind of tougher than ringing a bell," Katie said as she looked out to the city. "I put a candle in front of her and told her to put it out." Oliver frowned as he tried to understand the goal of that lesson. "She can't actually physically do anything to do it though." Oliver soon realized what she was trying to teach and thought it was actually pretty clever.

"Where are you?!" they both turned at the sound of Ari's voice.

"And there is the frustration I expected." she pulled away from Oliver. "I should-"

"Wait," Oliver jumped from the tree before turning and looking up to the woman and held up his hands.

"You know I've climbed out of this tree millions of times?" she said before she turned and slid from the tree slowly before releasing the limb and falling into Oliver's arms.

"Yeah, but I like catching you." Oliver says and Katie just shook her head before turning to see Ari stalking over.

"Look if you didn't want me to do this, then that's all you had to say! But don't stick me in some basement with some crap lesson." and with that Ari turned and stalked back inside the house.

When Katie walked into the house, she found Ari grabbing a bottle of juice from the refrigerator. She looked over to Katie and turned to stalk away.

"It wasn't a crap lesson, just because you couldn't get it." Katie says walking over to stand in front of Ari. She grabbed the bottle of juice from her hand and slammed it on the counter. "and you will always speak to me with respect, do you understand?" Ari looked at her for a moment, still clearly angry, but nodded.

"Yes."

"Now, the lesson Ari. I need you to tell me why you think it's crap."

"Because it's impossible," Ari threw her hands up in frustration. "You can't put out a candle without doing something to put it out."

"You're right," Ari frowned as she looked to the woman.

"But you told me I couldn't-"

"That's right too."

"So the goal of my lesson was impossible to complete, so what was the point?"

"Ari, do you know what's the hardest lesson for someone new to this job is?" It was Oliver who spoke and Ari and Katie looked over to him. "It's when you're put into a situation and you have absolutely no idea what to do because it seems impossible." he looked over to his wife, suddenly back to that moment where finding a way to save her seemed impossible. He turned back to Ari.

Ari let out a sigh. "Then what do you do?"

"You use that brain of yours." Katie says with a smile. "You think about the objective and what you're capable, of doing, and if someone tells you to do it and you know it can't be done, or you know that it shouldn't be done, then you stand on it."

"So you wanted me to tell you no?"

"No, I wanted you to see a task put before you and I wanted you to decide what the outcome should be. Ari, you're probably not aware of this, but I spent a long time with my life being out of my control. I was a chess piece moved and placed wherever everyone else saw fit and I couldn't question it. I had no choice and I promised myself that when I got free of that life, I would never be put in a position where I couldn't speak up, where I couldn't question the authority when I know better. That is the most important lesson I want to teach you." she placed a finger on Ari's forehead. "You are special Arianna, and I can teach you how to hit harder than your opponent. I can teach you how to throw a knife ten different ways, but this brain in your head will be your greatest weapon, I'm going to make sure of it." she dropped her hand to the girl's shoulder. "Now get to bed, it's late and you have school." Ari looked at Katie for a moment before suddenly throwing her arms around her in a hug.

"I'm glad you're back." Ari whispered before pulling away. She glanced over to Oliver for a moment and he wanted her to say something, and yet she just turned away and hurried upstairs.

"Aw, she's going to make you work for it, isn't she?" Katie chuckled looking over to Oliver with a shake of her head.

"Apparently." Oliver let out an exhausted sigh as he turned back to Katie. They stood there in a silent moment of smiles before Katie felt that fluttering in her stomach and had to turn away.

She cleared her throat. "So I think I'm like seventy five percent certain the Clinic opening won't be completely terrible." she noticed Oliver's slight frown. "Why do I feel like that may change?"

"There's a chance Evan's attacker could make an appearance," Oliver took out his cell phone and pulled up the video Felicity had shown him earlier. Katie walked over and glanced down to the screen.

"What the hell?" Katie saw what looked like some kind of cloth extending from the assailant's hand that was around Evan's neck retracting back into his jacket. "What was that?" she looked over to Oliver who just shook his head. The whole topic of meta humans and mysticism hadn't come up for obvious reasons. "It's something weird, isn't it?"

"We think so."

"I'm gonna need more sugar for this." she sighed before turning to grab the other box of cookies she said she would save.

Felicity pulled her car to a stop and let out a tired sigh. Her eyes glanced up to their house. When they returned to Star City, and figured they'd stay a bit longer, they figured a long term residence would be needed. Felicity figured they just stay at an apartment or or a loft. She was actually surprised when Bruce brought her to an actual home and she could honestly say it's not quite what she expected. It was massive, of course, which seemed to be Bruce's style. It was very modern. Lots of large windows, which wasn't that big of deal since the house sat in the middle of large acre of land and there wasn't a neighbor for miles. She got out of the car, glancing up to the large, block style mansion and would always think of how pretentious it looked. But she would never say that to Bruce who was all too proud of himself for picking it out all on his own.

Her heels clicked along the brick path that led to the door. The moment she pushed opened the door, she was already reaching down to pull them off.

"You're home," Felicity was half bent down, one hand holding the strap to her shoe the other holding her purse and keys when the voice startled her causing her to slightly jump dropping the contents in her hands. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Felicity glanced up and plastered on a tight smile as her eyes fell upon the greek goddess that was Diana Prince. The leggy brunette walked over with a smile of her own, bending down to pick up Felicity's purse and keys and handing them to her.

"Thanks," Felicity said starting to feel the awkwardness creep up her spine. She hated being alone in a room with this woman who totally intimidated her. She was literally standing in front of this beautiful, kick ass, goddess and she could never imagine being the one chosen given the option between the two of them.

"Ms. Smoak, you're home," Felicity smiled as she let out a sigh of relief as Bruce appeared from the hall. She glanced over to see him as he headed over to her, instantly wrapping his arms around her and placing a kiss to her lips as if the greek goddess wasn't standing right in front of them. And she loved it. He pulled back and looked down to her with a smile. "I missed you today."

"Aw, Mr. Wayne, how was your day?"

"Frustrating," Diana said and they both turned to her. "They're all just frustrating" she turned to Bruce. "Especially him." and with that the woman turned and disappeared into the house. Felicity laughed as Bruce groaned as he dropped his head to her shoulder.

"They're getting impatient?" Felicity asked and Bruce groaned what she thinks is a yes. "You need to tell Oliver they're here." he didn't say anything and Felicity huffed before pulling back to meet Bruce's eyes. "It is literally killing me to see him and not tell him what the hell is going on. We need to tell him."

"My sentiments exactly." they both turned to see that they now had an audience as Clark, Diana, and Kara stood in the foyer staring at them. Clark turned to Bruce who shook his head. "Putting this off won't change anything."

"Which would be a problem if Robins showed any signs of harboring that thing." Bruce said for what felt like the hundredth time. They'd all gotten into Star City just a few days ago. With the news of Katie awakening from her coma, they all needed to know if the darkness that almost destroyed the world had come back with her. It was a fight that they weren't crazy about getting back in, and they wanted to be certain they wouldn't have to. They wanted to see Katie for themselves, talk to her, but Bruce held them off, since without her memories she had no idea who these people were and them showing up could be the trigger that really does break all hell loose. "It's gone, and all of you coming here was unnecessary."

"Bruce we're here because if that entity ever comes back it could truly be detrimental." Diana said. "I know you want to protect her, and I know Oliver wants to protect her, but we really need to be certain that it's truly gone."

"Ok, but I guess I see this from both sides," Kara said looking from Diana to Bruce. "Making sure all the evil that was in her is really gone, is important, and should be done, but are we forgetting that she has absolutely no memory of anything? I mean we don't know what ambushing her with all of this could do. I can only imagine her life right about now hasn't been the easiest."

"It's hasn't." Felicity said and they all turned to her. She usually didn't interrupt the whole hero pow wow, but when it came to the topic of her friend and what she thought was best, she made sure her opinion was heard. "However you handle this, you need to handle it carefully," she glanced over to Bruce. "In a way that will not hurt her. Part of that means, whatever plan happens to figure this out, Oliver needs to be included." Bruce groaned as he slid a hand across his face. "There's too many heroes in this city for him not to notice at some point and-" she sniffed the air when the smell of something strange hit her nose. "What the hell is that smell?" she turned to the others who sniffed the air as well. They all turned and began following the scent that lead them to the other side of the mansion, standing in front of the massive window that looked out to the back yard. "Why is Constantine having a bon fire in out backyard?"

"He's been doing this all day," Bruce said as they all watched the man as he spun around the flickering flames, his mouth moving.

"If he's been doing it this long, I'm not sure it's working." Kara said tilting her head as she watched the man.

"And is that a good thing or bad thing?"

"No idea, but I'll be glad when Zatanna gets here to dial him back a bit." Bruce replied before pulling an arm around Felicity's waist and pulling her away from the others.

"You know a private conversation is like totally impossible with all the super hearing super heroes in our house, right?" Felicity asked and Bruce glanced over to the others who glanced back to him before turning away and he sighed. "Bruce-"

"I'm going to talk to him. I will. Me and Oliver's relationship is very hot and cold, so at one moment we could be the best of friends and the next he wants to put an arrow in me. I just have to approach him at the right time, when he's in a good mood."

"That's probably not any time soon."

"You get anything more from that video I sent you?"

"No, but Oliver and his new team-mets will be staking out the clinic tomorrow in case our mummy friend makes an appearance."

"He's letting them out in the field?" Bruce asked and Felicity rolled her eyes. "That seems kind of stupid."

"It was my idea!" she swat his shoulder and he rose his hands. "Plus that clinic is huge and Oliver won't be able to do it on his own."

"Then maybe that's it," Bruce and Felicity turned to see Diana who walked over to them. "Oliver needs back up, and we're here."

"I don't think that's good idea," Felicity said with a shake of her head. "This is a clinic, there will be lots of civilians and this can not turn into some ultimate super hero fight that could put these peoples lives at risk."

"Well we've been doing this for a while now, Ms. Smoak, I think we know how to keep people safe." Diana replied with a slightly condescending tone.

Felicity grit her teeth, before pulling on a smile that she turned to Bruce. "I'm going to bed now." she didn't wait for a response before turning and walking from the room.

Bruce turned a darkened look to Diana and she looked back to him in confusion. "What?"


	8. Crossing the Line

**Chapter 8**

**Crossing the Line**

" _Sometimes you just have to have faith. Sometimes you have to leap first to see if your parachute will open."_

_-Sonali Dev_

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Robyn Maisie Queen's short dark curls were a total mess over her head. Katie smiled as the girl attempted to push her hair from her face before she continued playing with her blocks. Her morning started early as she awakened from another nightmare that seemed to play her years of torture she wished she could forget. She decided to give up on sleep and when she peeked inside of Robyn's room, she found the other early bird in the house. So after a quick diaper change, a bottle and some cereal, Katie now found herself down in the den in a section off to the side that seemed to be made specifically for the little girl. In that corner was a toy chest filled with toys that Robyn crawled to immediately the moment Katie sat her down.

Katie's eyes lit up as she watched Robyn pulled herself up to her feet, reaching inside her toy chest and grabbed the handle of a box that was filled with her blocks. Katie sat on the floor, watching her, totally mesmerized by the tiny human. Katie couldn't help studying the girl, watching as she played and smiled as she stacked the blocks on top of each other before knocking them down and doing it all over again. She didn't hear the footsteps behind her, but she did turn when she felt someone now sitting beside her. She turned to see Oliver, who looked like he'd just woken up as he sat in his tshirt and pajama pants.

"You two are up early." he glanced over to Robyn with a smile as she turned and crawled over to the toy chest.

"Yeah, I didn't get much sleep and gave up after a while, so I decided to check in on her and found her awake as well." Katie smiled as she watched Robyn as she held onto the side of the toy chest while she moved around to search inside. A clear sign that they should probably be expecting a walking baby soon.

"Bad dreams?" Katie frowned a bit as she turned to him and gave him a nod. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly. It's just stuff I wish I couldn't remember," she turned back to Robyn to see the girl now holding a stuffed purple bear that sang the alphabet when she chewed on his ear. Oliver's eyes studied his wife as she watched their daughter and he smiled. "You know the last memory I have of her, she didn't have any teeth." Katie chuckled as she watched Robyn crawling back over to her blocks, her teddy bear still gripped tightly in her hands. "Her hair wasn't even an inch long and she couldn't crawl." Katie felt emotion rising up in her throat and so she dropped her head.

"Hey-"

"Five months Oliver," she looked over to the man. "Five months I missed. I missed her first words. I missed the first time she crawled." she turned back to Robyn who was once again stacking the blocks. "I missed the moment she began to hold her own bottle. I missed solid foods." she felt a tear escape her eye before Oliver's arm snaked around her, pulling her closer to his body. "I missed so much." she rose her eyes to him. "Moments I can never get back."

"But there are so many more that you will be there for." Oliver replied placing a hand on her cheek. He was there for each moment and each moment filled him with happiness, and yet they never felt complete. He always wished she was there. She was supposed to be there. "Twinkie, you can't make up for lost time, but you can make the most of the time you share with her now and she will love you all the more for it." Katie's eyes looked up to Oliver, finding herself being pulled into an emotion she didn't think she could pull herself out of. It's why she rose her own hand and placed it on the side of his face. There was something about this moment...something she thinks she's been waiting to feel. And so she lifts herself a bit, her lips needing to touch his, and he cranes his neck, bending forward to meet her half way.

"Hey, where is—" Thea came to a stop as she stepped into the den, and she instantly regretted her terrible timing. Oliver and Katie pulled a part and turned to Thea. "I'm sorry, I have the worst timing ever."

"No, it's fine, it's-" Katie turned, her eyes looking back over to the toys, and the stack of blocks..but no Robyn. "Robyn?" Katie frowned as she quickly stood to her feet and spun around to search the room. "Robyn, where—" she closed her eyes fear suddenly rising in her chest. Oliver grabbed her shoulder and she opened her eyes to him.

"It's fine, she does this." Oliver says before looking around the room.

"What do you mean she does this?" Katie says moving around the room in search of her daughter. "She just disappears?"

"Yeah, the second you take your eyes off of her." Thea says looking around the room as well. "She hasn't done it for a while though. I'll check the living room."

"Apparently, I also missed the stage of my daughter's life where she like to play hide and seek."

"I was supposed to get a few baby gates to prevent moments like this." Oliver says as he searches the room as well.

"Yeah, we're definitely doing that soon," Katie walks out of the den into the hall, her eyes looking down the hall before turning and seeing Ari now holding Robyn. Katie let out a relieved sigh.

"Look who I found coming up the stairs." Ari said as Katie reached for the baby. "She pulled a Houdini again, didn't she?"

"I wonder where she gets that from?" Katie says looking over to the unimpressed look on Ari's face as she shakes her head and heads into the kitchen. Katie glanced back, and called. "Found her!" when she walked into the kitchen she watched as Ari pulled the carton of milk from the refrigerator and went to grab a bowl.

"So what are you training me on tonight?" Ari asked as she walked over to the counter and glanced over to Katie who went to strap Robyn into her highchair.

"Nothing." Katie says and Ari frowned as she looked over to the woman who hadn't turned to her. She turned as Oliver and Thea walked into the kitchen.

"And the chances of an attack happening today are possible?" Thea asked and Oliver sighed, a sound that was answer enough. He walked over to place a kiss to Robyn's head and she giggled as he tickled her feet. "What's the plan?"

"I was just going to cover it on my own-"

"Which was a stupid idea, but Felicity was able to convince him to draft his team of wayward vigilantes to help out." Katie says and Oliver turns to her with a quirked brow.

"Seriously?" Ari says and they turn to her. "You're actually letting them out on a mission?"

"It's not a mission. They're just eyes and ears. None of them will be engaging this guy if he shows up." Oliver says before turning to Katie. "That goes for you too. If something goes down, and this guy makes an appearance, I want you to get out of there." Katie looked at him for a moment with a furrowed brow. "Twinkie, I'm serious."

"I know, which makes it even sadder." she says walking over to grab herself a mug for coffee. She turned to see him still watching her and she let out a sigh. "I don't run from fights."

"I get that, I really do, but we don't know what this guy is capable of and-"

"But you're bringing inexperienced people on a mission. That's a screw up waiting to happen," Ari says and Oliver turns to her now feeling as if they were now ganging up on him. "You should let me come, I can back you up." he actually let out a snort.

"That's not happening. You're going to school."

"Nope, I'm volunteering at the clinic. I got the volunteer day from school."

"You can't get that without a parent or guardian signature and I didn't sign anything," he glanced over to Katie who shook her head.

"Neither did I." they both turned to Ari who folded her arms and glanced over to the other adult in the room. Katie and Oliver turned to Thea who once again looked guilty.

"To be fair, I didn't know about the possibility of some guy using a clinic opening as a chance to make some kind of a statement. Plus I thought it was great that she wanted to volunteer."

"And you didn't tell us, because-"

"Because she said she would." Thea says turning a look toward Ari who now glanced nervously between Katie and Oliver.

"Well I wasn't talking to you at the time, actually, I'm still not." Ari says before turning to Katie. "I can be eyes and ears. Nyssa trained me using my senses to alert me to my surroundings. I can do this." Katie turned away at the mention of one of Nyssa's lessons and she had to fight the urge to throw the mug in her hand. She turned back to Ari and shook her head.

"No, you want to volunteer, then that's what you're going to do."

"But you said-"

"I know what I said, but you haven't shown me that you're ready for something like this. The fact that you're fighting in school, hiding things, sneaking out...none of them are signs that you're someone who can handle being apart of a team." Katie gave a nod. "Finish your breakfast and get ready for school." Ari scoffed, shoving the bowl on the counter before turning to stalk up the stairs.

"I'm not hungry anymore."

Katie slapped the mug on the counter, hard enough to make a sound, but not hard enough to break it. Ari, stopped and glanced back to see her cousin walking over to her.

"This is what I'm talking about. This teenager tantrum you throw when you don't get your way. That does not show me a person with the ability to make a sound decision not based in emotions." she stepped in front of Ari. "Fine, you're not hungry, but you took out a bowl and you took out the milk, all of which you will put back before you go upstairs and get ready for school." Katie placed a hand on Ari's shoulder. "I need you to do more than say you're ready for this, I need to see it. I need you to show me, got it?" Ari looked at her cousin for a moment.

"Yeah, I got it." Ari turned, grabbing the bowl and milk and putting them back where she got them before heading back to the stairs. She stopped before going up, once again turning back to her cousin. "I'm going to prove to you that I am ready." with that Ari turned and hurried up the steps.

Katie let out a sigh before turning to Oliver and Thea who'd been watching the entire encounter.

"You have no idea how much brother needs you." Thea says giving Oliver a pat on the shoulder before peppering kisses on Robyn's cheek. "I'm going to get ready too, I have to head in early to make sure everything is still on schedule."

Once Thea was gone, Katie walked over to grab her mug before taking a sip of her coffee. She glanced up to see Oliver still silently staring and she let out a huff before walking over to him.

"What has you struck in silence, now?"

"Thea's was right. You have absolutely no idea how much I need you." he sighs taking a step to close the distance between them. He grabs the mug in her hand, and sits it on the table behind him before turning to her. His hands reached forward, grabbing her waist, and she grew still in the embrace. This was definitely a new position for them. Her eyes on his, and his on her, as his hand tightened around her waist pulling her to him.

Katie could feel her heart ramming in her chest. She assumed she would have to be the one to make the first move, but she figures in this moment, Oliver had ran out of patience.

"Before, you said that you need to figure out when it's safe to cross that line, that three and a half years ago you figured it out and now you need to do that again, but I remember how we happened." he leaned in slightly. "I crossed the line first, so maybe-" he got closer, not expecting her to suddenly pull away.

"You crossed the line first?" she asked and Oliver looked back to her in confusion.

"Yeah, I kissed you and you kissed back."

"And then what, we decided to be together?" Oliver sighed with a shake of his head.

"Not exactly, it was sort of a spur of the moment thing. I kissed you and then we sort of freaked out about crossing that line. At the time, I wasn't sure about being in a relationship and I was scared to death of starting one with you and then messing everything up." Oliver frowned slightly. "And then we kissed again, but I-" Oliver shook his head because he wasn't helping his own cause. "I-"

"You were still too scared to take that chance." Oliver nodded and Katie looked at him for a moment before pulling out of his embrace. "Oliver I don't think we ended up together because you finally found the courage to give us a chance. I don't think I would've been able to cross that line just because you stepped over first. Something else happened. Something I really need to figure out." she glanced over to the wall clock. "I should go up and get changed-" she turned back to him. "You got Robyn?" Oliver silently nodded before watching the woman turn and head up the stairs. Oliver stood there for a moment before turning to his daughter who sat with her eyes up to the light fixture on the ceiling totally mesmerized.

"I need your help," Oliver says walking over and pulling the girl from her seat. "We need a plan to get mommy to let daddy kiss her." Robyn looked up to Oliver for a moment, and soon his hand felt warmer and he let out a sigh. "Dirty diapers don't help your old man, sweetie." he placed a kiss to her cheek before taking her up to change her.

It wasn't until Katie had arrived at the clinic and had been introduced to the other doctors and volunteers did she start to feel nervous. She actually realized that she hadn't actually interacted with anyone in a social setting like this in a while. It was mostly Oliver, and Thea, and Felicity and Bruce. There were doctors appointments, but those didn't really count she figured, and now people were looking at her with smiles wanting to engage in conversation and she couldn't help but want to find a hole and hide.

It wasn't until the doors opened and patients started filing in that she actually felt relieved. That's when she dove in. The system in place for seeing patients was working out perfectly, and everything seemed to be moving smooth.

Katie currently held a stethoscope to a young man's chest as she listened to his lungs.

"Take another deep breath." he complied, and her brow wrinkled at the sound of the slight wheezing from his chest. She pulled the stethoscope from her ears and brought them around her neck.

"So Justin, it sounds like your breathing problems may be asthma. We're going to run a few more tests to determine what type of inhaler we can get for you." Katie turned to the boy's mother. "This shouldn't take too long. We should be able to get you out of here soon."

"Thank you so much," the mother said with a smile. "And may I say, I'm so glad you're here and doing better."

"Thank you," Katie said before turning and walking from around the privacy screen as she pulled off her gloves and tossed them into the trash. She let out a sigh. She'd been getting a lot of similar comments through out the day. People she'd never met before telling her how glad they were to see her and how they were happy she was back in the city. She never truly knew how to react to such a sentiment and so she always smiled, and thanked them even though she didn't understand why so many people cared. She walked over to the sink and quickly washed her hands before going to grab a patient chart, when she came to a stop noticing the black eye of one of the volunteers. She doesn't remember seeing the man earlier when they were doing the introductions because she's sure she would've noticed. His eyes seemed to be darting around, and the moment he turned to her, she suddenly realized she knew who he was. He looked at her for a moment, noticing her staring before walking.

"Did you need something, Dr. Robins?" She quirked a brow. He was the first person to call her by that name.

"Call me Katie, and no, I'm just looking at your gnarly black eye," she tilts her head slightly. "How did that happen?"

"Oh, it was just fall down a couple of steps," he chuckled and Katie met his eyes with a look he figured meant his story didn't sound too believable. "I'm good though."

"Yeah, well be careful, and the next time you see those steps, remember to duck." she said giving the man a pat on the shoulder. "We can't have our volunteers looking like we beat them to make them help us." the man laughed and Katie gave a nod before going to grab a chart.

"Uh—Rene-" he said and Katie turned to see the man gesturing to himself. "My name, Rene."

"Well nice to meet you Rene. And thanks for volunteering, your service is much appreciated." with that Katie turned and Rene watched her with a smile until Curtis appeared in front of him.

"Uh, what the hell was that?" Curtis asked and Rene turned and walked away in annoyance and Curtis followed.

"It was nothing, she asked me about the black eye Mr. thinks he knows everything gave me. We were just talking."

"Kind of sounded like more than talking from that change in tone." Evelyn teased from her spot across the clinic through the comlink. "Dare I say, Wild Dog has a crush on the first lady of Star City."

"Hey, focus, heads on swivels." came the voice of the Green Arrow through the comlink and they all lifted their eyes. "Remember do not engage."

"Copy that," Evelyn responded as she moved around the clinic.

"Yes sir, I mean Ol—" Curtis caught himself. "I mean Green Arrow." he shook his head before heading off to his section to patrol.

They all waited for a response from Rene, who still stood near the entrance, but didn't say anything.

"Did you copy that, Wild Dog?" came Felicity's voice.

"We got to talk about this code name."

"Not now, stay focused." The Green Arrow replied.

"You know it would help to know-" Rene is suddenly bumped from behind, and he stumbles forward, nearly falling, but he catches himself on a chair before turning to see the cause.

"Hey watch where you're going," said the red headed teenager and Rene just shook his head.

"Seriously, you bumped into me," he countered and she just rolled her eyes before stalking off.

"You do know who that was, don't you?" Evelyn asked and Rene just shook his head as he scanned the room.

"I don't care who the spoiled little brat is." he replied as he lifted his eyes.

"Eh-hem, uh maybe we really should focus," Curtis says hoping to shift the conversation from the name calling of teen.

"Man, it would take one major asshat to make a move against all these people." commented Evelyn as she stood off to the side. From her spot she really could see just how many people had come out to the clinic's opening and it was a lot.

"Something I've learned recently is the city is filled with them." Curtis said.

"Starts at the top, you know?" Rene says, his eyes looking out the window as Oliver appears surrounded by his security and reporters. "Pretty boy Queen here thinks he's actually saving the city."

Oliver had to force himself not to say anything to the comment as he walked inside and smiled as he shook the hand of the officer guarding the door. He smiled and waves as he walked through the clinic, but he couldn't help that his eyes seemed to be searching for her. It was instinct really whenever he entered a room she was in. He needed to see her. Soon his eyes happened upon his wife, and his smile widen as he watched her helping a young girl who was holding her arm.

Oliver watched how comfortable she looked, how her eyes were focused on the girl, smiling at her, comforting her and it was amazing. He always found her amazing when she was practicing medicine. She was always in the zone, always focused without a worry in the world it seemed. He knows this is probably a welcomed distraction for Katie. Something she could pour herself into and not have to think about the craziness that is their lives. He walked over to her, stopping himself from reaching out to touch her. She turned a smile to him, that slightly faltered when she saw his entourage of security guards and reporters behind him. She moved to step in front of the child and her parents.

"Hi, if you all could step back a bit. We want to keep our patient treatment areas as sterile as possible." she turned a look to Oliver who knew he'd probably be hearing about this later. He turned and held out a hand to the reporters to stand back a bit as he walked over to stand beside Katie.

"So what do we have here?" Oliver asked smiling down to the little girl who couldn't be no older than nine or ten.

"Well we have a broken bone that hasn't set." Katie says smiling down to the girl who seemed to be smiling up to Oliver.

"Oh, you'll be alright," Oliver said placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I've had some experience."

"And I think what Mayor Queen would also like to add is that it's very dangerous to ride your bike without a helmet and knee pads, isn't that right dear?" he turned a smile to Katie and he had to remember that they were being watched and that she was helping a patient, because the smile on her face right now was just too tempting to not kiss.

"That's right," Oliver says turning to the girl. "Just take my advice, and listen to whatever she says. It's gotten me this far." the girl laughed and Oliver once again turned back to Katie who lightly swat his arm with the chart.

"Alright, Mayor Sweet talker, off you go." she said and Oliver laughed. "You still have a job to do," Oliver gave a nod actually glad for the reminder that he should be focused on the possible attack that could be happening. But focusing on the main objective was always hard to do when she was in the same room. He looked around the clinic at the sound of distant laughter and that's when he spotted Bruce surrounded by a small group.

"Bruce is here?" Katie glanced over to him, before looking out to see Bruce as well.

"Huh, he must've just gotten here." she said and Oliver turned back to her with a smile.

"I'll see you later, Mrs. Queen." he said, his hand subtly sliding across her back and she forced herself not to just melt into a puddle on the floor. Instead she turned a smile to her young patient.

"Alright, lets get you fitted for a sling Missy. We actually had some cool ones donated, did you want to take a look?" the girl nodded. Katie grabbed a temporary sling and slid it around the girl's shoulder. "Great-" she looked over to child's parents. "We have them set up over there, so we're going to take a short trek across the clinic if you'll follow me."

Bruce looked over to see Oliver heading over before turning back to the small group of civilians that headed over the moment he walked inside the clinic.

"If you all would excuse me, I think I will go catch up with my pal the mayor," Bruce shook hands as he sifted through the group until he reached Oliver who smiled an obviously fake smile. "You look happy to see me."

"Nah, this is for the cameras." Oliver muttered through his teeth. Both turned as a few reporters took their picture before dispersing to get more shots of the clinic. Once they were gone, Oliver turned a glare back to Bruce before nudging his head and walking off. Bruce let out a sigh, but turned and walked over to follow Oliver to a far corner away from the crowd. "What are you doing here?"

"What? I can't come and show my support for such a impactful and much needed clinic in Star City. I'm actually a bit offended you didn't ask for Wayne Enterprises to back this since you're avoiding RI."

"I'm not-" Oliver shook his head trying to remain calm. "I don't have time for this. There was an attack on-"

"Evan Wender, vice president of Amertek, we know. It's why we're here as your back up."

"And who the hell is we?" Bruce turned, and scanned the clinic and Oliver turned to follow his line of sight his eyes going wide. "Is that Diana?"

"Yeah, Clark and Kara were supposed to be here, but they both got tied up with work, so it's just me and Diana."

"And who asked you to be here? Felicity, because she never-"

"This wasn't Felicity. She mentioned the possibility of the attack was by a meta and we knew your only back up was a couple of vigilantes in training and thought you could use a bit more help." Oliver looked at the man for a moment in confusion before letting out a sigh.

"No, this is you and Diana here to watch Katie. They want to see her."

"They just want to be sure," Bruce replied and the look on Oliver's face told him he wasn't going to get far in this conversation. "They want to see her. Constantine and Zatanna may have a way-"

"It's not happening," Oliver turned dark eyes to Bruce. "You should leave, and you should take Diana with you. If I see either one of you near wife, I will kill you." he turned and stalked away leaving his threat for Bruce to interpret on his own. Bruce turned to see Diana looking over to him and he just let out a sigh.

Oliver walked across the clinic, glancing down to his watch.

"Felicity switch to a private connection." he ordered.

"Oh boy," she muttered. After a few moments she spoke. "Alright, let me have it."

"At what point were you going to tell me about Bruce and his team being in Star City?"

"Believe it or not I was going to tell you later today if Bruce didn't do it himself. They're all just a bit on edge. I've told them, Bruce has told them that we don't see any signs of that darkness inside of Katie, but they seem adamant. Especially Diana. I think she knows more about the darkness than she's letting on."

"Well I don't care about how they feel or their fears. None of them are to come near my wife or talk to her about any of what happened."

"Oliver I get you want to protect her, but they're all just being cautious. None of us want that thing to come back, so maybe it's a good idea to hear out Constantine and Zatanna. See what they can do."

"The last time I trusted Constantine and Zatanna with my wife I lost her, I will not make that mistake again." Oliver said turning and looking across the clinic to see Katie speaking with the young girl and her parents and laughing at something that made him smile. She was happy and she was here and he would not risk that. "Felicity, the next time you have information about plans that include my family, I expect to be told. That has to be how it works with us."

"Oliver, I'm sorry, I really thought Bruce would be more upfront with you with all of this, but you're right. I'm still on this team, and I promise to be more upfront."

"Thank you, you can switch back to the team link. I'm going to head up now to get a better view of the clinic."

While Missy and her parents flipped through the book of sling designs, Katie stood nearby filling out the girl's chart.

"So, how's it going?" Katie looked up from the chart to see Ari who hopped up on the examination bed beside her.

"It's going pretty good I think. I saw you actually looking like you were having fun with your friends. Did you guys volunteer together?" Katie asked looking back down to the chart.

"It was Jamie's idea actually, and we all thought it would be cool."

"And Jamie is the cute brunette boy you keep giving goo goo eyes to?"

"I am not!" Ari squawked unintentionally. She glanced around to make sure no one had heard her before turning back to her cousin with a lowered voice. "I am not giving anyone goo goo eyes. We're just friends." she shook her head and glanced over to Jamie who was sweeping up trash. "Plus he doesn't even look at me in that way."

"Take this from someone who was the most unpopular girl in her high school who never thought the most popular guy in school would ever look at me as more than his dorky fat friend. Don't sell yourself short Ari, you never know until you know." she nudged the girl's elbow. "Now go, I can't be seen hanging out with my teenage cousin, it's so not cool."

"You know you're still a dork." Ari says hopping from the bed when suddenly a blood curdling scream filled the entire clinic. Katie and Ari turned to see a man wearing some sort of suit made of dark rags pinning Janet Carroll to the wall. They watch as the rags from his clothing begin wrapping around the woman's face and body. The room erupted in chaos as everyone ran for the door. Ari, took a step forward toward the man, but Katie grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Not today, out!" Katie says pointing for Ari to leave with everyone else. Ari looked angry, but the look her cousin gave her told her now was not the time to argue. The teen glanced over to the Ragman once more before turning and running for the door.

Katie turned, looking up to the attack, actually able to hear the strained breaths coming from Janet and she knew the woman wouldn't last much longer. She needed to do something, but she had no idea what. What she was seeing was completely out of her wheelhouse and definitely not something she'd been trained to handle. She'd only taken a step before an arrow is shot from somewhere up above hitting the Ragman. He turns not expecting it and when he goes to run, he's bumped. Katie's eyes turned to see it was Missy, and the man in frustration grabbed her by her sweater and flung her across the floor.

Katie runs for the girl to get her out of the way, but the Ragman sees her and assumes she's about to attack and without hesitation, he sent one of his rag-tentacles toward her, wrapping around her neck. Katie pulled at the rags as it tightened around her neck making it hard her for her to breathe. In those few moments a lot happened as she felt the air slowly leaving her lungs. She closed her eyes, suddenly an image of a smiling Robyn struck her, and then it flashed to Ari who was laughing, and suddenly the image changed to Oliver and he was staring at her with that look that always made her almost forget the monster she felt she was. She wonders if this is the 'life flashing before her eyes' moment people usually have before they die. She hopes this wasn't it. That she didn't end right here, not when there was so much she wanted to do. Soon her salvation came when someone-she thinks it's the guy she met earlier-tackled the Ragman, and in the fight, Katie is flung against the wall, before dropping to the floor.

Katie lays on her back, coughing as the oxygen assaults her lungs quickly. There's a commotion still happening, but for some reason she can't move. She lays there, allowing reality to seep back in. And she realized just how quickly her reality changed in just those few moments. Death was usually an accepted entity in every battle, and yet this time she didn't want to accept it.

Suddenly there is a hand in hers and when she turns, her eyes look up to see Oliver staring down to her, now dressed as the Green Arrow. She glances over to see a small crowd still standing around and she turns back to him and tries to sit up.

"Hey, easy, are you alright?" he whispers.

"I'm fine. You can't be here," she whispers back as she sits up to meet his eyes. "You know you can't be here right now." It's as if he doesn't even hear her as he looks her over. "I'm fine, but you have to go." She turns meeting his eyes and gives his hand a squeeze. "Later." he gave her a nod before standing to his feet and sending a zip-line back to the second floor and shooting up and disappearing.

Katie pulled at her sore muscles before turning and seeing Missy now being cradled by her parents.

"Hey," Katie says sliding over to the girl. "Are you ok, are you hurt?" she brought a hand to the girl's arm to make sure dislocation wasn't any worse. The girl hisses in pain at Katie's touch. "Ok, you're going to the hospital." she looks up to Missy parents. "Don't worry about anything, I will take care of everything. Why don't you all head out, and let one of the security know that I've instructed you to go to the hospital."

"Thank you." Missy's mother said before her and her husband grabbed their daughter and left.

Katie sat on the floor for a few moments, rubbing her sore neck when she heard footsteps. She looked up to see Rene who knelt down in front of her.

"Can you stand?"

"I think so." she took his hand and he helped her to her feet. The moment she was standing it felt as if the world had tilted and she went with it.

"Whoa, Dr. Robins, can you hear me?" Rene caught the woman in his arms before looking up and seeing eyes on him and the unconscious woman. He looked over to the wide eyes of Curtis and Evelyn, "Can I get some help over here?!" soon more doctors rushed over.

The clinic was cleared and all patients injured or in need of medical attention were moved to SC General. Katie was included in that group. She'd been given a private room, Steve standing outside of her door standing guard while Ari paced back and forth in front of Katie's bed, the woman still unconscious. Ari glanced over to her cousin and let out a sigh. She was angry. At herself mostly. She shouldn't have ran off, she should've stayed, she should've fought. Ari's eyes turned to the door when it opened, and let out a sigh at the sight of Oliver who looked to be out of breath as if he'd ran here. He looked over to Ari as he walked into the room before turning to Katie.

"How long has she been like this?"

"Since they brought her in." Ari says turning back to her cousin. This moment so reminiscent of so many days she sat at her cousin's side while she was in her coma. "What if she doesn't wake up?" Oliver turned to the teens eyes, seeing the fear she attempted to hide. "What if-"

Oliver brought his arms around Ari and placed a kiss to her head. "Hey, she's going to wake up," he looked back over to his wife hoping those words were true. "Were you the only one here?"

"Uh, yeah, Bruce and some woman were here, and that weird British guy was with them, but I guess Steve didn't want a lot of people in the room and Dr. James agreed so they just let me stay."

"Good, I'm actaully going to go talk to Christian to see what's happening. I don't want you to leave this room." he turned to leave.

"Oliver, wait-" he stopped and turned back to Ari. "This guy...the one with the Rags."

"I'm meeting up with Felicity and the others to figure out a next move. I almost had him, but-" Oliver shook his head at the other problem he'd have to deal with later. "It's fine, we'll figure it out."

"I want to help." Ari said and Oliver looked at her for a moment before he glanced over to Katie. "He almost killed her, I want to help take him down." Oliver brought his eyes back to Ari and he could see the look in her eyes. That determination.

"I'm sorry Ari. If today has taught me anything, it's that there are just some things I have to handle on my own." Ari frowned with a shake of her head. "Ari-"

"That's not today's lesson Oliver," she said looking back over to him. "I think that's the opposite of what you should've learned today." she turned and walked over to drop in to the seat beside Katie's bed. Oliver took a moment before he walked out the door and turned to Steve.

"No one who isn't a doctor or nurse goes into that room, I don't care who they are." Oliver ordered and Steve simply nodded.

"Yes sir." Oliver turned to leave, "Uh sir, the doctor didn't tell me much about what's happening with Mrs. Queen since I'm not family. How is she doing?" Oliver glanced back to that door and shook his head before turning back to the man.

"She's a fighter." with that, Oliver headed down the hall. He was pretty sure that Bruce didn't heed his warning from earlier which was a very stupid thing to do.

_Katie suddenly appeared in front of the familiar door to her house. She looked around the neighborhood that looked as it always did before she turned and walked inside of the house. Her eyes went wide, the place looked different, but it was also a wreck as if there was earthquake or something. She lifted her head at the sound of voices coming from the living room, and she walked until she found them._

" _ **I couldn't save him,"** Katie moved into the door way, now able to see the source of the voice. She looked over into the living room in confusion as she stared over to Oliver and herself sitting on the couch. Neither turned to her...it was as if she weren't standing right there watching them. " **I couldn't stop the destruction Malcolm was so intent on inflicting. I failed this city."**_

_Katie stood there for a moment, suddenly realizing he was probably talking about Malcolm Meryln and his Undertaking. It was a plan to blow up the Glades, and though he was stopped, he still ended up leveling half of the city and killing hundreds of people. Katie thinks she's now witnessing the aftermath for a hero who felt as if he didn't do his best at stopping the man._

_**"Look at me." Katie said and Oliver opened his eyes, their faces only inches apart. "Failure only happens when you do not try. You tried-hell we all tried to stop this. What happened yesterday does not fall on your shoulders, the only one to blame is lying cold in a freezer right now. You saved more lives than you realize yesterday, and I'm not saying that justifies the ones lost but it's something."** Katie moves in closer, a sudden prickling of her skin as she watches what she feels is probably an important memory. Maybe what she's been looking for. **"Yesterday I saw hell, I saw one evil man bring hell to our city and it made me realize something. It can all just end-" she snapped her finger for emphasis. "like that. If yesterday was my last day I would regret a lot of things, but my biggest one would be that I didn't tell you how much I love you Oliver Queen."** Katie lets her back fall back against the wall as a smile comes to her face. This was the first time she told Oliver that she loved him. She bet neither one of them realized how important this moment was for her. For years she was trained never to be vulnerable, never show emotions...and in this moment she thinks she freed a part of herself from things that were done to her. She finally broke some of the chains that kept her linked to her torturous past. Katie suddenly knows what happens before it plays out in front her and she smiles. **Oliver didn't say anything right away, and fear twitched inside of her in that moment and then something happened. A smile pulled at his lips as he looked up to her. "I hate when you do that. Just talk." Oliver pulled Katie's lips to his in slow, deep kiss filled with so many emotions...Love...Passion...Sadness...Hope.**_

_And then they were gone and Katie pushed herself from the wall to look around only to find that she truly was alone._

" _You're back." Katie turned at voice, this time to see her familiar league doppelganger, her white league clothing stained in blood. "_

" _You showed me that didn't you?" Katie asked and the woman turned away before picking up a fallen picture and placing it back on a nearby table. "You're the one who's giving me these memories. Why not just give me them all?! Just come back!"_

" _I told you I can't do that." she said turning back to Katie. "You're doing fine."_

" _I'm not doing fine! Every damn day I have to work to feel like this is my life and I shouldn't have to feel that way. No matter what I do, it will never be the same because something is missing..you're missing. You're-"_

" _I can not go back until it's gone!" she snapped angrily as she stalked over to Katie who stumbled back. "I have stay here, to protect you and to protect them, so I don't care how you feel because I've felt it before, and I got over it. I pulled myself out of the darkness that tore us apart in those three years and you will too. Oliver will help you. I have to stay here because with me comes pain, and suffering, with me comes heartache and danger. They're better off with you." They both looked up to the ceiling at the sudden sound of something crashing upstairs. Katie looked back over to the double, who now suddenly held a katana in her hand. She let out a sigh before looking back up to Katie. "You have to go now."_

" _Wait, I can help you!" Katie says as the woman inched closer to her. "I can be the one to stay here and fight and you can go back." the double stopped in front of Katie and smiled, but shook her head._

" _You don't see it, but you're better for them than I ever could be." Katie looked down to the woman, her hand once again glowing. "This is the life I chose, and nothing can change that." and with that the double pressed her glowing hand to Katie's chest._

Katie's eyes cracked open to a pale ceiling of a very bright room. With consciousness came the sudden ache of her head and she couldn't help the groan that escaped her throat.

"Oh thank God," a hand suddenly grasped hers and when she turned she looked up to Ari's concerned eyes. "You're such an idiot, you know that! You scared me to death. How do you feel?" Katie's brain still felt a bit fuzzy as she attempted to regain her focus.

"What happened?" she her voice rasped.

"That Rag guy attacked the CEO of Amertek at the clinic. I guess some kid got in his way and he shoved her and when you went to check on the kid he grabbed you." Katie turned away, the memories of what happened to her floating back to her as she reached up and touched her neck. "You were up, talking and then you passed out. You've been unconscious for like an hour. I thought-" Katie turned to Ari, seeing the emotion pass over her eyes and she gave the girl's hand a squeeze.

"Ari I'm ok." Katie turned, and sat up from the bed. "Was anyone else hurt?"

"I'm not really sure. I rode with you here and I haven't left since we got here." Katie nodded as she looked around the hospital room. "We're at SC General. It was the closest hospital to the clinic." Katie slid a hand over her face and Ari continued to watch her cautiously. "Are you sure you're alright? I should get the doctor-" Ari tried to pull away, but Katie held onto her hand.

"Ari, I'm ok," she repeated knowing it was something the girl needed to her. "I'm just trying to understand what happened."

"Well I should at least call Oliver. He's in the hospital. He went to talk to your doctor."

"Has he had any leads on finding this guy?"

"I don't know, but I don't think he would tell me if he did." Ari said with a shake of her head. "He still doesn't want me involved and I have no idea how to prove to him that I could do this."

"Oliver cares about you Ari. You may not be his daughter, but he loves you as if you were and he can't even fathom the idea of your life in danger."

"But you can?"

"No, I can't, but what I can do is let you prove to me your ability to get yourself out of dangerous situations."

"You know I never thought I'd actually hear you say that? You've always been as overprotective as Oliver." Katie smiled at the girl before placing a hand to the side of her face. Ari had no idea that this little opportunity Katie had given her wasn't just to prove her abilities, but to also stop her reckless behavior. Ari didn't see it, but Katie was protecting her.

Oliver stalked down the halls of the hospital, letting his eyes scan over every face that passes him. It wasn't until he walked passed one of the family waiting rooms did he stop. He let out a sigh before turning and walking back to the room to see someone familiar standing alone in front of a coffee maker.

"Zatanna," Oliver spoke and the woman turned to him and held up a finger.

"You have no idea how badly I need this coffee." the woman said turning back to the cup and smiling as it finished. She grabbed the cup, and brought it to her lips before taking a sip, instantly grimacing at it's bitter taste. "Oh, this tastes like something I should kill." she shook her head before tossing the cup in the trash and turning to the dark glare of Oliver Queen. "So I hear you're being a pain."

"You shouldn't be here." Oliver said walking over to the woman. "Actually none of you should even be in this city. Go back to them, tell them all to leave or I will make them." Zatanna smirked as she looked up to the man amused as she looked into his certain eyes.

"I'm sorry Oliver, we can't do that. Not until we verify that that darkness that inhabited your wife's body is gone." Oliver sneered turning and stalking away from the woman. "You know burying your head in the sand and pretending that what happened just a few months ago...what your wife almost did-" Oliver scoffed before walking over and closing the door to the waiting room.

"I don't need you to recap it for me Zatanna," Oliver turned back to the woman. "Because I was there for the entire thing. I also specifically remember it all went bad when you and your friend Constantine thought poking at that thing would stop it. I'm learning from the past. My wife is fine, that thing is gone and I will not let any of you near her to change that."

"Oliver your wife was fighting an unwinnable battle before me and John attempted to get rid of that thing. And maybe we sped along the process-"

"Maybe! We were fine. We were away from the city and we were going to be fine, but you had to show up and ruin it."

"You were never fine. It was never just going to go away on it's own. Taking her away from this city wouldn't get rid of something that lived inside of her...that could still be living inside of her." Oliver shook his head.

"You're wrong."

"Well there's a possibility that I'm right. And if I am right, tell me all the ways this could go bad for you and your family." she took a step toward him. "Oliver, your wife could possibly have the ability to end the world." he looked over to the woman. "We need to figure out if that's still a possibility." Oliver turned away from the woman, sliding a hand across his face.

These past couple of months, he's tried to move past what happened. He's tried to forget it and not think about the sadness and fear that twisted around his heart. He knew Zatanna was right...he knew they were all right, but in his head he imagines this all just poking a sleeping bear. At the moment, everything was fine. He couldn't—wouldn't risk the happiness of his family by changing that.

Oliver turned back to the woman and shook his head, "No," he walked for the door to leave.

"It happened, Oliver." the woman repeated. "Every moment of pain and sadness happened and pretending that it didn't because she's back won't change what she did...or who she is." Oliver turned back to the woman. "Damien Darhk." that was one name Oliver wished he never had to hear again. "The fact that he could be her-"

"Damien Darhk is not her father. That bastard's blood isn't in my wife or my daughter." Oliver walked back over to the woman. "Stay away from my family. All of you." Zatanna saw the seriousness behind Oliver's eyes as he held her gaze for a moment before turning and heading for the door.

He'd only pulled it open before she would say her final words. "We can't do that." he stopped and turned back to her. "This meeting was a courtesy. She's your wife and this is your family and we wanted you to work with us, to have your blessing, but we certainly don't need it." the woman walked over to stand in front of the man. "We are all on the same side, with one goal. It is our duty to protect this world and to stop any threats. Oliver we just need to make sure." and with that the woman walked from the room and Oliver watched as she walked down the hall before turning out of his line of sight.

Oliver clenched his fist, wanting to punch something in this moment, when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and read the message from Ari, that Katie was awake and he quickly headed back to her room.

Katie's eyes followed the small light of Dr. James' flashlight as instructed. Oliver and Ari stood off to the side as the doctor completed his exam.

"Well all your scans came clean." Christian said turning off the flashlight and slipping it back into his pocket. "Your cognitive and motor functions seem to be fine as well. How are you feeling?"

"An array of things at the moment." she muttered before staring over to Oliver and Ari who were both watching as if waiting for something to happen. "I'm fine," she turned back to the doctor. "Really, I feel fine. My neck is a little sore, but that will heal."

"Ok, well then I don't see any reason to keep you here overnight if you want to head home." Christian gave the woman a smile before looking over to Oliver. "I'll go grab the release papers." Once the doctor was gone, Oliver came back over and took a seat on the edge of Katie's bed.

"You'd tell me if you weren't fine, right? If you felt strange or if something just didn't feel right?" Katie looked at the man for a moment. There was something about all of this that had him worried and she wasn't sure why. Here she was, fine, and yet he was looking at her as if he couldn't believe it. Katie looked over to Ari who seemed to hold the same look in her eyes and she let out a sigh.

"I'm fine, really," she turned back to Oliver and smiled. "Just take the words from my mouth at face value and believe them. So what have you found out about our Ragman?" Oliver looked at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"Uh, I'm not sure, I came straight here." Oliver said.

"Oh, well then you should go. This guy is obviously very dangerous and stopping him is more important-"

"It's not. Nothing is more important than me being here to make sure my wife is alright," Katie looked at the man for a moment. Hearing him refer to her as his wife always tugged on something inside of her. "I'm taking you home."

Upon arriving home, they found Thea who'd picked Robyn up from her day care. As soon as they arrived, Thea had to leave. She caught her brother's arm before he could go upstairs. He stopped glancing back up to her before watching as Katie and Robyn headed

"We need to deal with this Janet situation." Thea said and Oliver turned back to her. " And you need to be there."

"Thea, I-"

"I know you don't want to leave Katie right now, but we are in a bit of a crisis right now and the city could be on the hook for a big lawsuit." Thea looked over to the stairs and shook her head. "How is she? I just feel like all of this seems like-"

"Something that would've triggered the darkness." Oliver said and Thea nodded. "So did I. But it hasn't. None of it has. I truly believe it's gone, but my word doesn't seem to be enough for some people."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you about it later." Oliver nudged his head up stairs. "I'm going to check on her." and with that the man hurried upstairs. Oliver walked down the hall stopping at the sound of soft humming coming from the nursery. He walked over, peeking inside, smiling at at the sight of Katie gently rocking Robyn in her arms. She looked over to him and smiled.

"I didn't know how much I would miss her." Katie whispered over to him. Oliver walked over and lowered himself to the floor to sit in front of her. Katie looked over to him, her mind going back to that memory of her telling him she loved him and she smiled. "You know I think I have to tell you to go." Oliver looked up to her in confusion. "Oliver this guy-"

"Twinkie, I told you-"

"And I heard you. But I'm fine, this guy failed today, and either he gives up or he tries again. I'm betting he's going to try again and your new team isn't ready to handle this on their own." Oliver shook his head.

"I told him not to engage and yet he didn't listen. He doesn't get it."

"I think it's your job to teach him." Katie says and he turns back to her. "None of them get it. Just a few weeks ago they were all doing their own thing and now they've been drafted on this team having to follow someone elses rules. It's uncharted territory. And trust me, I know how difficult it can be to navigate through uncharted territory." Katie looked down to her daughter who was silently chewing on the ear of her stuffed rabbit and she smiled. "But I'm sure at some point they will get used to it." she looked back over to Oliver. "So go. Find the bad guy, stop him and then come back. I think I have to talk to you about something." Oliver's brow rose. "Nothing bad or serious, just...a memory I think."

"You know I would much rather stay and talk about that memory," Oliver said and Katie chuckled. "But you're being my conscience right now."

"I am, Mr Queen, and as your conscience I am telling you to get out there and do something I think you're really good at. So do it, and then come back." he looked at her for a moment, truly not wanting to leave this house, but he knew she was right. Oliver stood to his feet before walking over and placing a kiss to Robyn's head. He looked up to Katie for a moment before placing a kiss to her cheek.

"Try to get some rest." he whispered before turning for the door. He stopped before leaving, turning back to her. He watched as she smiled down to their daughter in her arms, rocking back and forth and in that moment he couldn't imagine pulling the craziness of the past couple of months back. He wanted her like this. She lifted her eyes to see him standing at the door and she quirked a brow.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said with a smile before turning and leaving the room. There was this nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him doubt not telling her the truth, but it wasn't strong enough for him to ruin this life that his family desperately needs. He had the feeling he would have to fight for that to happen, and yet it changed nothing. Oliver glanced over to Ari's door, hesitant to attempt another conversation he's sure won't go the way he anticipates, and yet because he hates when she's upset with him, he walks over and knocks on her cracked door before pushing it open. He finds her lying in bed, her back to him, but he can tell she's not sleep.

"Hey, I was going to head out. Did you need anything?" he asked, but she didn't say anything. Oliver slid a hand over his face, before looking back over to the girl. "Ari, I know you're upset, and you don't want to talk to me because you think I'm being unfair for not letting you risk your life by putting on that mask. The truth is that if I gave you my blessing to do this, and something happened to you, it would end me." she still didn't say anything and so Oliver let out a sigh before turning and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

Ari's tears stained her pillow when Oliver left, but she quickly dried them before sitting up from her bed. She looked around her room, her eyes turning to her door. She thinks she's about to do something stupid, and yet she's going to do it anyway.

For what felt like their first mission, a team of amateur vigilantes didn't feel as if it were successful. They were ordered to return to their training hideout where they awaited the Arrow's return. Curtis sat on the steps, his eyes looking over to Felicity who had her cell phone pressed to her ear. Soon she pulled the phone from her.

"I'm almost afraid to ask- actually, I am afraid to ask- you know, maybe I'm just afraid." Curtis says as Felicity looks over to them. He comes down the stairs and walks over. "Is he coming?"

"He's on his way." Felicity said glancing down to her phone.

"And how's..." Curtis let the question linger knowing Felicity would know what he was asking.

"Fine. Home." they turned back to Evelyn and Rene. Evelyn had been glaring daggers at Rene since they arrived.

"You know he's probably debating on keeping us around after your stunt back there!" Evelyn said angrily looking over to Rene who didn't even look in her direction. "Why did you do that anyway? He specifically told us not to engage!" it was the big screw up of the whole day. It was Rene who attacked the Ragman and the squabble ended with the their target getting away.

"First, he's not the boss of me, never will be. Second, if he thinks I'm just going to stand back and watch some little girl get hurt, or watch a good doctor get choked to death, then he never should have recruited me in the first place."

"I think that's quickly becoming the majority opinion." Curtis muttered.

"Third, if I hadn't done what I did, I wouldn't have gotten this." Rene held up a piece of the man's rag that he was able to snag during the fight.

Felicity walked over, plucking it from his hand, "Wait, is that a piece- "

"Yeah, the Rag man. Now, I may be new at this and all, but isn't that what you guys call "evidence"?

"On the line!" came the Green Arrow's voice and they all nearly jumped at his sudden appearance. They all sighed before walking over to the line. Felicity walked over, hoping to stop him before he goes on a tirade.

"Hey, hi, before you start on them what-"

"My instructions were specific!" The Green Arrow said not even pausing before his expected lecture. "By not listening, you put every one of our lives at risk."

"You need to calm down..." Felicity once again attempted, but he wasn't listening and at this point she was getting frustrated. She knew there was probably a lot contributing to his mood right now.

"Now, I know that none of you are ready for this, but now I'm not sure if you're ever going to be, he turned to Rene. " because you are reckless," he looked over to Curtis. "you're useless if you're not behind a computer and then his eyes settled on Evelyn. "and you are just a little girl who should be doing something better with her life!"

"Ok, that's enough pep talk for one day!" Felicity said stepping in front of him and this time he finally looked over to her. "Can I talk to you for a second?" he let out a huff before turning and walking across the hideout where Felicity followed. "Ok, I get you're upset, but you need to calm down. Look I get what happened to Katie wasn't expected."

"That's an understatement. " Oliver said with a shake of his head. "Now, on top of a screwed up mission, I have to worry about Bruce and his team trying to fix something that isn't broken."

"First of all, they're your team too. When we needed them they were here, and right now they're just worried." she could see the argument wasn't something he care about. "But right now that's not the point. Your mood right now shouldn't be the reason you're physically and emotionally abusive." Oliver shook his head as he turned away. "You keep expecting them to do what you're telling them to do, and then you're not giving them any reason." Felicity continued. "You just keep jabbing them with a cattle prod, expecting them to perform, and the guy that you called reckless got us our only clue we have so far." Felicity held up the tattered rag, and Oliver glanced over to it and sighed.

"I need you to do a full workup on that."

"Yeah, well, I can't. I mean, not here. The Ghosts destroyed our gas chromatograph, but I have other methods."

"Good." Oliver said. "I have to get to City Hall."

"What about them?"

"The city just experienced the equivalent of a terrorist attack. Those 3 can wait." with that Oliver turned and left.

Felicity turned to the others who stood there for a moment, none looking happy at the insults that were thrown their way.

"You know, forget this. I came here to help, not to be pushed around and called names." Rene turned and headed up the stairs to leave.

"I can't help but to agree." Evelyn said going to leave as well, but stopped. "You know Rene isn't the only one who didn't follow the rules." Evelyn pointed in the direction Oliver had exited. "It was daylight, there was a crowd of people and police. When the mission fails you leave, but he stopped to hold a woman's hand instead of getting out of there. That was a risk and yet no one's calling him out on it." with that the girl turned and hurried up the stairs to leave.

Felicity let out a sigh before turning to Curtis. "He's just going through a lot."

"I get it, I really do, but it doesn't stop the words from hurting." Curtis replies with a shake of his head. "I'm going to get some air."

Felicity stood there unsure what she should do at the moment. She closed her eyes and thought really hard. Felicity opened her eyes when she realized what to do. She needed reinforcements and she knew exactly where to go.

The house was pretty quiet after Oliver left. After feeding Robyn, and giving the girl a bath, the child had went out like a light. Katie went about getting a shower and changing before stepping back in the hall. She glanced over to Ari's door for a moment. Earlier she asked her if she were hungry, but the girl replied that after the day they'd had she'd turn in early. She was about to check on Ari when the sound of the doorbell stopped her. Her brow furrowed as she went to see who it was.

When Katie pulled open the front door, she was a bit surprised to see Felicity standing there.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you all were searching for this Rag-guy before he attacks someone else."

"I was—well I am. There's a search happening now and I'll be notified once it's complete." Felicity said and Katie nodded before stepping aside to let her in. "First off, how are you doing?" Felicity said tossing her arms around Katie in a hug. "I can only imagine you didn't expect some weird guy with even weirder rags to try to strangle you."

"Yeah, that definitely didn't make it on my list of possible things happening today." Katie chuckled pulling from the hug. "Coffee?"

"Please."

Soon the two women sat at the kitchen table when Felicity finally revealed her other reason for being here. "Well besides making sure you were alright, I'm also here because I could use your help." Katie looked over to the woman in confusion. From what Katie knew about Felicity Smoak it was that she could usually do about anything. "It's Oliver."

"Is he alright?"

"I'm not sure. He's just been in a mood and said mood caused a very aggressive verbal lashing toward his perspective team and they all walked out." Katie frowned as she shook her head. "For some reason he's really been pushing them hard and when they don't deliver in the way he wants he-" Felicity shook her head. "If he keeps this up, there won't be a team."

"Which I don't think he'd be too upset about." Katie says sitting back in her seat and turning away. "He's keeping them at a distance for some reason. Once he figures out why, maybe he'll tone his aggressiveness down a bit."

"All things you should tell him in a way he will acknowledge and accept before changing his behavior." Felicity said with a smile. "He listens to you. More than the rest of us." Katie turned at the sound of tiny cries that sounded from the baby monitor.

"Ma! Ma ma!" called Robyn and Katie sighed before turning to Felicity.

"Looks like my decision has been made for me." Katie said standing to her feet. "I'm going to tell Ari that I'm leaving."

"Oh, and I will go check on Robyn." Felicity said standing to her feet as well.

Outside of Ari's door, Katie knocked. "Hey Ari," she didn't get a response and she figured the girl was still sleeping. "Ari, I have-" she opened the door stopping at the sight of the empty bed. She stepped further inside, glancing over to the bathroom that was empty as well. Katie searched the room for a any clues as to where she could've gone, and that's when she saw the slip of paper on her pillow. Katie walked over to pick it up, sighing at what it said.

" _I can do this. I'm going to prove it."_

"Robyn just needed a new diaper and-" Felicity stepped inside of the room, glancing around before turning to Katie who was looking down to a piece of paper before turning to her. "Again?"

"Yep." Katie says before stalking out of the room.

Arianna knew that if this didn't work that she would be in serious trouble. It had to work. She was going to find this Rag-guy and stop him, proving to Oliver that she truly could put on that mask. He didn't see it, but he would. But for this fight, she would need resources. And since going to the bunker wasn't an option, she would go to the next logical place.

Ari stood outside the boarded up clock tower that stood in the middle of the Glades. The building had been restored, but even all these years later, no one would buy it because of it's location. Her eyes scanned down both sides of the sidewalk, noticing no one standing out too much and so she reached into her pocket pulling out a key to unlock the door. Scanning the area once more, Ari hurried inside. The place was dark as it always was, as she climbed the steps. She slowed her pace as she neared the top of the staircase, noticing the shadows of flickering candles. She silently reached the top, glancing around at the sparse furniture that included a mattress on the floor near the window, a wardrobe beside it and a table and two chairs around it. There was a counter that sat a hot plate and a microwave and a few decorative scarves that hung around to give the place some color.

"You're not supposed to be here." spoke a voice from somewhere in the room. Ari scanned the room unsure where the voice was coming from. "Where am I?" the placement of the voice changed that time and Ari spun around closing her eyes in an effort to focus her senses on finding out where the voice was coming from. She smiled as she opened her eyes and looked up to the rafters, which was pitch black, but she knew that's where it was, and so she pointed up and soon feet plopped down in front of her. "That took you longer than before."

"Hi Nyssa, it's good to see you too." Ari said with a smile as she looked over to the woman. Nyssa looked at her for a moment before shaking her head and walking over to look out the large clock tower window. The glass of the window was made with some weird glass that allowed one to look out, but no one to actually get a good view inside.

"If our cousin finds you here, I doubt any of us will be very happy." Nyssa turned her eyes back to Ari.

"You're supposed to tell me that you missed me, and that you're happy to see me." Ari says walking over to sit at one of the chairs at the table. "That's what family does when they haven't seen each other for long periods of time."

"Well I haven't felt much like anyone's family these last couple of weeks." Nyssa walked over and took the seat across from the girl. "And you're not here because you missed me. You need something."

Ari let out a sigh before sitting back in her chair. "I asked Oliver to be a part of the team. I want to help stop the assholes who want to harm the people in this city."

"Let me guess, he said no." Nyssa chuckled with a shake of her head. "I could've told you that he wouldn't agree to it. Oliver has a tendency to think he can control everything by avoiding the inevitable. It's his flaw."

"Exactly, he can't see that I really can do this. You've trained me to do this."

"I never trained you to be some kind of vigilante. I trained you to protect yourself and to survive."

"What's the point of having these skills if you can't use them to help others?" Ari asked and Nyssa looked at the girl for a moment and rolled her eyes.

"Living with them is really starting to rub off on you, isn't it." Nyssa sighed. "There are some of us that choose the battles that directly threaten us and our power and then there are those who choose the battles that threaten others." Nyssa looked at the fire behind the girl's eyes. That fire that reminded her so much of herself when she was that age. But that fire died within herself after years of suffering the abuse of her father that she didn't even realize at the time. "Oliver has chosen his battle, and so has our cousin. And I guess now, so have you."

"I have, and I need your help."

Oliver left city hall after hearing from his sister what he already knew. Because of him and his promise, the city was now on the hook for the damages that occurred during the attack and also a possible law suit from Janet who'd just been released from the hospital. There was also the fact that Thea was considering giving Quentin a position in city hall when the man still battling his alcoholism, and Oliver just had no idea how to handle it. He needed to focus on one thing at a time, so after a text from Felicity he once again suited up and returned to the training hideout where he found Felicity and Curtis.

"Hey, what's going on, where is everyone?" Oliver asked walking over to them when suddenly he heard something he didn't expect. He heard his daughter's laughter and got even more confused when Katie walked inside pushing Robyn in her stroller. "Is everything ok? What are you doing here?" Oliver walked over to her, glancing down to Robyn before turning back Katie.

"I'm fine. Felicity came by house and told me about your little team speech today that ended with no team." Katie says and Oliver sighed, glancing over to Felicity who shrugged.

"That's not exactly how—"

"They quit," Curtis said and Oliver turned to him. "Which shouldn't come as a surprise to you."

"Well we chose the wrong people," Oliver said. "I was trying to teach an important lesson and they didn't get it."

"Including me, right?" Curtis asked. "Maybe there's a reason why you couldn't. We don't trust you."

"That's on you."

"No, man. That's on you. Because you don't trust us, because you don't want us. I tried to explain to the others. I told them all about how you, Guardian, Speedy and Spartan were a family, and even though you were tough and scary and even a little abusive, they clearly trusted you because they stood by you. But then it hit me. No, they didn't. They left, and now I know why. You don't respect people. You don't know how to have partners. You don't build people up. You tear them down. I thought I could trust you- we could trust you. I was wrong. And that's why I'm out, too." Curtis' words hit Oliver in a way he didn't expect. He watched as Curtis stalked past him to leave and he couldn't stop him because he knew his words were true.

Oliver couldn't get Curtis' words out of his head. He and Katie went to the bunker. He changed fully prepared to just go home, but he stopped in front of the team's suits and realized why this was so hard for him.

Katie walked over to Oliver, a drowsy Robyn, eyes barely opened as she lays on her mother's chest.

"I failed them," Oliver suddenly said and Katie turned to him with a furrowed brow. "As a leader, I failed them."

"I'm not sure if failed is the right word." Katie replies and Oliver turns to her, his eyes looking down to his daughter who seemed seconds away from going to sleep. He reached forward to pull her into his arms, letting her head fall to his chest in comfort for both her and him.

"Well they left, so I'm unsure what other word I should use." Oliver replies before placing a kiss to Robyn's head.

Katie let out a sigh as she turned to the row of suits all proudly displayed on the blank faces of mannequins.

"Do you remember our junior year of high school?" she chuckled as she looked over to him. "You'd already became this big shot, popular guy, and I had solidified my status as the school's dorky loser-"

"You weren't-"

"Ah ah, my story," she said and Oliver chuckled with a shake of his head. "I think I rarely saw you that year, we had no classes together, and with my mom gone, my dad just worked all the time so we rarely had any of those annoying Queen-Robins dinners." she smiled as she remembered. "One day during that year I got super sick. It was like a bug that would not go away and I felt like I was going to die. Apparently I wasn't sick enough for my dad to come home from wherever he was working. So I thought I was just going to have to tough it out alone. Until one day the doorbell rang." she looked over to Oliver who smiled as he turned to her. "This guy who I barely saw that year, showed up at my door with soup and an overnight bag."

"You missed two days of school, which I knew meant something was wrong. So I asked around and found out that you were sick. Also knew your dad was busy with work and that you were home alone, so I thought I would help you get better." Oliver said. "You know we may not have hung out much that year, but I remember always looking for you in the hallway in between classes. After a while I learned your schedule a bit and could coordinate at what times I could pass you in the hall." Oliver shook his head, still regretting that he wasn't brave enough to tell her how he really felt. He turned back to her and smiled. "It probably would've been a better year if I just told you that I liked you. It probably would've saved so much time if I did."

"That's it." Katie says reaching up and placing a hand on his chest. "I don't remember a lot about all of this, or this team you brought together, but I'm one hundred percent sure that it worked so well and they believed in you so much because they saw in you what I always saw. They saw your heart. They saw who Oliver Queen truly was." she slid her hand up to his cheek. "I don't think you gave those recruits that version of you. They got the guy behind the masks, who yells at them and beats them up." she dropped her hand and they turned back to the suits.

"I thought it would be easier."

"For them?"

"No, for me." Oliver sighed, glancing down to Robyn who had fallen asleep. He looked back over to Katie, her eyes on his. "I told you that I wasn't on that island the entire time." Katie nodded, remembering Oliver tales of his adventures after the sinking of his father's yacht. "Well there was a time when I was in the Bratva-"

"In Russia, right?" Oliver nodded.

"Nobody in the Bratva uses their real names. Nobody knows anything about anyone's life before they were Bratva."

Katie turns away, Oliver's story sounding eerily familiar. "Sounds like the league." she looks back over to him. "It was lonely."

"But It's effective. They teach you that the only person you can trust is yourself, that without personal attachment, there can be no loss." Oliver turned back to look at the suits once worn by his friends. "Laurel, Thea, Dig, even Roy. I let them into my crusade. I let them in...Then they left."

"So what you're saying is that if you keep that line drawn between you and the new recruits, that risk of being hurt never happens." Katie says and Oliver turned to her, realizing the comparison she's just made between what he was doing with the recruits and their relationship. "The Green Arrow, that guy behind the mask, I don't think that's the guy your friends followed. Not for as long as they did." she looked up to meet his eyes. "It's Oliver Queen, the guy who cares about his city, who loves his family and would fight for one as fiercely as he would the other." Katie's phone vibrated in her pocket and she quickly pulled it out to see the message from Felicity. She turned back to Oliver with a smile. "This is your conscience speaking Oliver. It's ok to let them in. It's ok to be afraid of being hurt and it's ok to hope you're not."

"It all starts with crossing that line." Oliver says now interested in the covert conversation they were also having.

"It does." she replies with a smile and Oliver can't help but to return it.

"What did you remember?" he asked and Katie smiled with a shake of her head.

"Sorry, you still need to focus on your mummy guy, and getting this little one home and to bed." Katie says looking up to the confusion in Oliver's eyes. "I sort of have to go somewhere that I can't tell you about because it will upset you more." Oliver turned to her with a quirked brow. "I'll tell you about it later."

"I think I want you to tell about it now." Oliver said firmly and Katie let out a sigh but didn't say anything. "Ari-"

"Is fine. I will handle it." Katie says placing a hand on Robyn's back, before turning back to Oliver. "Trust me Liver, I got this." placed a kiss to his cheek before turning and heading for the elevator. Oliver stood there watching unsure if he was ok with being left in the dark.

Ari slapped a palm to the floor in frustration before standing back to her feet and tightening the blindfold around her eyes. This lesson was about agility, and spacial awareness when your senses are limited. Said lesson includes Ari having to evade being struck by the high speed tennis balls Nyssa was throwing at her. This was the lesson she would need to master to go up against someone like this Rag-guy. He was quick and she needed to be quicker.

"We should call it a night." Nyssa said. "It's getting late, and I'm pretty sure someone is looking for you right now." Ari pushed the blindfold from her eyes and looked over to Nyssa who stood across the room surrounded by tennis balls.

"We can't stop now. I haven't got it yet, and we don't stop until I do." she pulled the blindfold back over her eyes and waited for Nyssa to begin. "C'mon, just-" she pushed the blindfold up and looked back over to Nyssa whose attention was pulled to something else. Ari turned following her eyes, stumbling back at the sight of her cousin. "I—I didn't even hear you come in."

"Well our cousin always had a natural talent for stealth." Nyssa said eyeing Katie closely as she walked further inside and let her eyes sweep over the room.

"You know Nyssa, I could've sworn you were told to stay away from my family." Katie turned back to the woman.

"Hey, wait, this wasn't her. "Ari says walking over to stand in front of Katie. "I came here."

"Why?"

"Because she's the only one not afraid to actually teach me how to do this. I asked Oliver to let me help him stop this guy and he wouldn't even consider it. He looks at me like I'm some vulnerable child who can't take care of herself and I'm going to prove him wrong."

"So you snuck out, traveled all the way to the Glades for some hero lesson with your best pal Nyssa, huh?"

"You two gave me no other choice. This is happening, and I won't let you and Oliver stop me. So you either help me or I come here and let Nyssa help me."

"Or third option, I kill Nyssa, send you to boarding school and I never have to worry about my pain in the butt cousin sneaking out again." Ari frowned as her cousin stared down to her.

"You wouldn't-" without even being able to finish her sentence, Ari watch as Katie slipped a blade from behind her and shot it toward Nyssa, hitting the woman square in the shoulder causing her to stumble back. Ari gasped about to go over to her, but Katie grabbed her arm and pulled her back forcing her to turn back to her.

"I would and wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over it, but I'm not going to." Katie said. "Ari you don't think we see you. You don't think we're listening, but we are. There is a fight inside of you and you want to use it to help people, but before you can, you have to be ready." Katie reached up and pushed the blindfold back over her eyes. "The reason you keep getting hit is because you're focusing too much on what you expect to happen. When you're out there, when you're in the middle of battle, there is only so much you can anticipate. Everything else is unexpected. The only way to prepare for the unexpected is to expect everything. Listen to everything." she pulled the blindfold up to see the girl's eyes. "Go downstairs and wait for me." Ari looked at her for a moment before glancing over to Nyssa who'd pulled the blade from her shoulder and now had a towel pressed against the wound. "She's fine. She's had worst." Ari turned back to Katie before walking around her to grab her bag and jacket and head downstairs.

Katie stood there and looked over to Nyssa who stared back.

"Did stabbing me make you feel better?"

"It did actually." Katie replied with a smile. "Why are you still here?"

"Maybe I had nowhere else to go." Katie rolled her eyes before walking over to look out the large clock window the looked out to the city.

"Nyssa, why are you here? " Katie asked once again before turning back to the woman. "Why did you help Oliver? Why did you protect my family?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I am not who I was as you remember?" Nyssa asked and Katie scoffed turning back to look out the window.

"It kind of is, because to you it's been years, something you probably can't quite remember, but to me-" Katie turned back to Nyssa before walking over. "To me, it's as if it happened yesterday." Katie glared before turning and stalking off.

"We were both prisoners of my father." Nyssa said and Katie stopped but didn't turn. "The only difference was you knew it at the time, and I had to discover it later. I saw him—saw who he was—I saw what he cultivated and molded within me. Your torture was nothing compared to my own." Katie turned to the woman. "You see cousin, most of my life was spent trying to please my father, the things I did, the people I hurt, it was all so he would look at me with pride, but he never did. I was just another one of his assassins. One he planned to use at his whim." Katie shook her head. "You want to know why I'm here? Well one day your husband referred to your as our family." Katie turned her eyes back to her, and Nyssa dropped her eyes. "I began to realize that I never really had a family." the woman paused for a second as the realization once again hit her. She turned back to Katie who was still watching her. "I'm here because cousin, you are my family. Your husband, your children, they are my family, and I will destroy anyone who dares to try to hurt them."

Katie was speechless. She needed to make sense of this moment. The Nyssa Al Ghul she remembers was a brutal, cold hearted bitch, and would not make such declarations. Such declarations were a sign of weakness and it was something she knows the woman's father would certainly disagree with.

Katie simply nodded before turning to leave. "Clean that wound before you bandage it." Nyssa stood there and watched as Katie left and she couldn't help the slight smile the curled on her lips.

Arianna was confused. Katie didn't say a single word as they left Nyssa. When they walked through the door and Oliver walked in from the kitchen, she thought this was when the punishment would start and yet, Oliver quirked a brow as he looked over to Katie who simply nodded before turning to Ari and telling her to go to bed. She's sure there was a conversation about it when she left, but nothing was even spoken the next morning before she went to school. She had no idea what to think, but she knows that if she wants this to work then she's going to have to do it the right way. And that meant first making peace with the bullet magnet.

"And he knows you're coming here?" Hank asked as he pulled in front of City Hall. He turned in his seat to look back at Ari. "I didn't get any instruction to bring you here and any time I deviate from your designated route I have to get it confirmed from the boss." Hank pulled out his phone.

"Would you just not." Ari said glaring over to the man. "Fine, he doesn't know I'm showing up here, I'm going to catch him off guard."

"Why?"

"Because I have to be an adult and talk out my issues." Ari says turning back to the building nervously. "Also because I'm pretty sure I'm getting grounded soon and I'd like to smooth things over as best that I can and I don't need you ratting me out before I can do that." she looked over to him with a pointed finger.

"Whatever you say kid." Hank chuckled as he turned back around. Ari rolled her eyes before getting out of the car.

Ari quickly jogged up the steps, and pushed through the doors of City Hall. She hated coming here. Everyone was always smiling and waving at her and it freaked her out. She sped walked through the lobby, stopping at the security check in. She reached into her back pack and pulled out her visitor's pass and handed it to the guard. He looked down to it before looking over to Ari. He was new. The last guy usually just let her pass whenever she walked in, and now she was being overly scrutinized by some guy who probably took his job way too seriously.

After a couple of moments of the guard, silently looking between the picture on the pass back up to Ari, she started to get annoyed.

"C'mon, that's me!" she said a little louder than she intended and the lobby seemed to pause and turn to her. She let out a sigh before turning back to the guard.

"Ari?" the girl looked over to see a confused Thea walking over. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see Oliver, but apparently the fake cop seems to think I may be a terrorist." Thea walked over to the guard.

"She's fine, you can let her in." The guard nodded, handing the pass back to Ari who snatched it from his hand before brushing past him. "You know the whole rude teenager gag is getting old. That man has a job."

"I get that, but c'mon. I'm wearing a school uniform, I have a backpack, and he was looking at me like I came in here to blow up the place." Ari shook her head as they walked over to the elevator. Once the doors opened they walked inside. "So on a scale of one to ten, how is his mood right now?"

"Well the city is on the hook for that catastrophe that happened yesterday. The benefactor for the clinic has pulled out her investment since you know she was attacked, and he's here instead of being home with his wife who was also attacked." Thea looked over to the girl. "I'd say he's at probably a negative one." the elevator doors opened and Ari stared out in nervousness, not even taking a step. "Might as well get it over with." Thea gave the girl a nudge and laughed at the dark look Ari turned to her as the doors closed.

Ari let out a deep breath before continuing down the hallway. She stopped at his assistant's desk before going over to his office.

"Hey Maddie, is he free?" the curly haired woman turned a smile to Ari.

"Well for you dear, he is always free. Did you want me to tell him you're here?" Madeline asked and Ari shook her head.

"Nah, I think I still want a chance to actually talk myself out of doing this." Ari said and Maddy just chuckled as she watched the girl taking slow steps toward Oliver's office. Ari appeared outside of Oliver's door sooner than she would've liked. She wanted to turn and run, and yet she took one more deep breath of courage, reached forward and pulled open his door.

Oliver's phone was pressed to his ear when Ari walked into his office, and his eyes widened the moment he saw her.

"Ok, give me a call when you got something, Felicity." he quickly ended the call and moved around his desk to Ari. "What are you doing here? Are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm cool." She said moving around the office and Oliver watched in confusion as she walked over to a plant in the corner and flicked one of the leaves.

"Ari?" she let out a sigh before turning back to him. "What's going on?" Ari walked over and took a seat in one the chairs in front of his desk and Oliver grabbed the other and turned to her.

"I'm here to do the adult thing and have a conversation like two adults." Ari said and Oliver looked over to her in amusement.

"Or how about we talk like you're Ari, and I'm Oliver." Oliver said and Ari simply nodded.

"Ok, fine, I would like to join your team." Ari said and Oliver dropped his head and out a sigh.

"Ari, we've already talked about this, and I've made my decision and you know that." Oliver looked back over to the girl. "It's too dangerous and I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you."

"Then what's the point of me coming to you to actually talk if you're going to pull the whole 'you're my guardian who tells me what I can and cannot do'" Ari shook her head as she stood to her feet. "I thought you would actually listen for once." Ari grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

"Ari wait!" the girl stopped and turned to him. "You're right. You came here for a conversation and I can at least hear you out. Not that what you say could change my mind, but I'm willing to listen." he pointed to the chair and Ari saw that this was probably her only chance, and so she walked over to sit.

"You're afraid that I could be hurt, and the truth is that I probably will get hurt." Ari sat back in her seat with a shake of her head. "You don't think I know what I'm asking, that I don't get what this life is, but I do." she looked over to him. "I've had a front row seat these last couple of months watching you. Watching how you go out there and stop these bad guys and you make this city a better place because of it."

"But Ari, you don't see everything. You don't see how hard it can be. You don't know how tough it can be to go out every night with the possibility that you might not make it home." Ari looked at him for a moment before she shook her head.

"And neither do you. You definitely never go out there thinking you might not come back home. You go out there and you fight, and you make sure you're back to see us in the morning. I know I can do that. I know I can put that mask on and be just like you." and those were the words that didn't sit right with Oliver. He stood to his feet, and let out a sigh before walking over to stand by the window.

"You being me is the last thing I want." Oliver sad turning back to the girl. "This life isn't my dream. It's not my fantasy and it's definitely not the life I ever imagined I would have."

"Then why do you do it?"

"I do it because I have to, but you don't. I do this so you don't have to. I risk my life so you can live yours and putting on that mask doesn't do that. Why do you think the team left? They realized that they would rather have a life outside of a mask and though it hurt me to see them leave, I completely understood it. I don't want that for you. I don't want you to hate this life so much that you would want to leave. I can not lose you to this." Ari looked over to him for a moment before once again grabbing her back pack.

"You're not being completely honest. You don't have to do anything Oliver, you've chosen this life just like you can choose another. You're here because you know you can help this city. I know I can help this city, you just have to give me a chance." she turned to leave but stopped and turned back to him. "And maybe you're right. Maybe I wouldn't be you, but maybe I could be better. You just have to teach me."

Ari left Oliver with her words that he didn't expect to actually make him doubt his decision and yet they did.

Felicity was completely focused as she typed away. Her back up plan for analyzing the rag was to use Bruce's shipyard hideout. She turned at the mechanical sound of the staircase lowering. Soon Bruce appeared and she smiled, but the smile fell when she realized he wasn't alone. Not too far behind him was Diana, and Zatanna.

"Hi Bruce." Felicity said through a clenched smile. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't come home, and I got an alert that someone was here and saw that it was you and so I decided to check on you."

"And you thought you needed backup?" Felicity said looking around the man to Diana and Zatanna who moved about the hideout.

"Don't worry Felicity, we sort of invited ourselves." Zatanna said walking over to the woman. "We didn't want to be stuck inside your house and Bruce mentioned that you were helping with a possible meta and we thought we could lend a hand."

"Well I'm not the person you should ask to lend a hand. I've already gotten into hot water before by not being completely honest about your presence here in this city, and Diana and Bruce suddenly appearing at the clinic. I'm good, my test is almost-"

"What's that?" Zatanna asked, walking around Felicity to the tattered rag that was inside of the glass encasing where she was analyzing it.

"That is-" Felicity said, but Zatanna pulled the lid off the case. "Wait, what are you-" Zatanna didn't say anything before reaching inside and picking up the material. Suddenly the computer began beeping and Felicity turned to the screen the see the 'Analysis Failed' message and she turned back to the woman. "Well that's just great. Could you put that back, please? That was retrieved from our Ragman and I was trying to use it to find his location."

"Your meta was wearing this?"

"Well he's not my-" Felicity let out a frustrated sigh before turning to Bruce and swatting his arm and he turned to her to see the look he was familiar with and so he turned back to the woman.

"Alright, Zatanna, could you put the cloth back so Felicity can finish her analysis?"

"No need." Zatanna said and they all watched as the material began floating above her head. "I think I know what this is. It's emitting a very high frequency of energy."

"And by energy, you mean..."

"Magic." Zatanna said with a smile as she turned back to the cloth. She looked at it for a moment before uttering words that Felicity and Bruce didn't quite understand. Soon the rag goes flying and they watch as it freezes before white lights began shooting from it. At first the lights seem to be random, but soon they begin to take on the form of a suit. Suddenly the light flicker before becoming solid and appearing is the figure in the suit itself.

"That's the Ragman." Felicity says taking a step forward. She reached out a hand to touch it, but her hand just passed through. "Ok, that's cool." she says moving around it.

"I don't believe your guy is a metahuman, I think he just has a killer wardrobe." Zatanna says walking over as well. Diana walks over curious to see the hologram. "I think he possesses something called the rag of Devarim."

"Really?" Diana says turning to Zatanna. "I've read about the rags, but the stories seemed too odd to even be considered reality?"

"Odd how?"

"No just the whole mystical powers inside of this suit of rags that gives it's wearer those powers." Diana shook her head. "I always thought it was just a fable."

"Apparently not." Felicity said turning back to Zatanna. "Can your nifty magic trick tell me where the rest of the magic rag suit is?"

"Well it is very very old magic, so trying to create a link would take some time, but there is something else." Zatana moved her hand around the suit. "There's another type of energy here. Something not mystical, but also very strong." Felicity's brow furrowed as she looked over to the suit before going back tot her computer.

"What are you looking for?" Bruce asked coming up behind her.

"Trying to see if I'm lucky and that before Zatanna pulled the rag from the case it-" Felicity smiled. "And there it is. " Bruce leaned into the screen.

"That's a lot of radiation. Something throwing off that much radiation-"

"Can be found by the great and powerful Felicity." Felicity replied her fingers rapidly typing on the computer. Diana and Zatanna walk over, their eyes all watching as Felicity easily navigated through satellite imagining until she finally stopped. "Gotcha."

"That was remarkable." Diana said looking down to the screen before turning to Felicity with a smile. "You are quite impressive Ms. Smoak. " she looked over to Bruce. "should we go pay this guy a visit?"

"No, you shouldn't." Felicity said answering instead. She looked over to Zatanna. "Thanks for your help and I will be sure to let Oliver know about your assistance." she turned back to Diana. "But this is Oliver's case, I take this information to him and he decides how to handle it. If you would like to help, you should go to him first."

"Felicity, with the power this man posseses, Oliver will be no match for him."

"Well I wouldn't count him out just yet. Oliver always has a way of surprising you." Felicity turned back to her monitor and began typing away. "Now where did this radiation come-" Felicity's eyes widened. "Whoa?" she turned to Bruce who met her eyes before looking down to the screen.

"Does that say-"

"Yes it does." Felicity replied before once again typing. She had a thread and needed to see where it lead.

Oliver sat at his desk as Thea sat in front of him recounting a conversation she'd overheard.

"So are you sure that it was them?" Oliver asked

Thea nodded, "Yeah, that son of a bitch leaves a pretty good impression. "

"Well, if Amertek is in bed with Church, then-"

"Then maybe that guy in rags isn't so bad because he's probably trying to take down Amertek."

"Still, why is the C.E.O. of a Fortune 500 company like Amertek willing to deal weapons to a -" The door to his office pushed open as Oliver was speaking. "crime lord?" it was Felicity who found that she had come at the perfect time.

"Because they are trying to avoid bankruptcy." Felicity handed the folder to Oliver. "My forensic workup was interrupted by I was able to obtain information from a secondary source." Oliver looked up from the folder to the woman. "And by secondary source I mean Zatanna." Oliver let out a sigh as he dropped the folder to his desk.

"Felicity."

"I know what you're going to say, but information is information not matter where you get it."

"Fine, what did she tell you."

"Well she did this cool magic trick where she took the rag and-" Felicity noticed Oliver's unimpressed expression and figured she should get to the point. "It's over 2000 years old, and has weird powers. I was also able to determine our Ragman is radioactive."

"Please tell me that's not what we're actually going to call him." Thea said looking over to Felicity who took a seat in the chair beside her.

"Ok, if it's radioactive, then that means trackable." Oliver says and Felicity nods. "If this weapons buy is going down, this guy is going to try to stop it."

"Leading us right to Janet Carroll and Mr. Church." Felicity added.

"Wait. What did you mean when you said that Amertek is going bankrupt?" Thea asked to Felicity

"The isotope that made the cloth radioactive is very specific." Felicity said before turning to Oliver. "I tracked it to one of the nukes Darhk obtained for Genesis day."

Oliver frowned. "But he never obtained any nuclear weapons. Katie-" he cleared his throat because the truth was it wasn't his wife at the time. "That thing tricked him into thinking he'd stole the weapons, but he didn't."

"You're right he didn't. But he did obtain access to a nuke before Genesis day that was never publicly reported." Felicity replied. "I think he was doing a test run. There was a small town just outside of Havenrock that was it. Whole town wiped out. That nuke was manufactured by a company called Atomic Defensive Systems."

"They're likely a subsidiary of Amertek. " Oliver said.

"Right, the bottom line is the subsidiary's connection with Genesis day has made Amertek's stock prices go..." Felicity waved her hands to imitate an explosion.

"Which explains why they were so eager to have a big public relations bonanza." Thea said with as hake of her head.

"And why they'd be willing to unload their excess ordinance on Tobias Church." Oliver said standing to his feet. "We need to find our friend in the rags and hope he leads us to that weapons sale."

"I'm already tracking him, just let me know when you're ready." Felicity said standing to her feet.

"Ready" Oliver said.

"Uh, they did just say that there was enough weaponry to take down an entire country, so I would think this would be a good time for you to test out your new team." Thea said turning to Oliver.

"There's no team anymore, Thea. If I'm going in, I'm going alone." Oliver said heading for the door.

"I'm not really sure that's a plan your wife would support." Thea said standing to her feet and Oliver stopped and turned to her. "Oliver you risk a lot going in there alone."

"What other options do I have?"

"Um-" Felicity rose her hand and Oliver turned to her. "I have a suggestion, but you're not going to like it." Oliver looked at her for a moment and it hit him that she was talking about the other heroes currently squatting in his city.

Oliver shook his head. "Absolutely not." he didn't wait for a response before turning and leaving.

Felicity turned to Thea who let out a sigh as she pulled out her phone. "He was warned."

The house was quiet as Katie sat in the living room, the only light coming from the glow of the television she wasn't watching. She glanced back over her shoulder. It was late and Oliver hadn't made it home yet and she finds herself worrying about him. It's a feeling she doesn't think will go away anytime soon since she's found out about the things he does at night.

She heard someone in the kitchen and frowned as she stood up to check it out. Katie walked into the kitchen where she found Ari's head inside of the refrigerator.

"Can't sleep?" Ari jumped before turning to Katie.

"You really are stealthy." Ari said closing the refrigerator. "Yeah, just can't seem to get to sleep." Katie walked over to one of the cabinets and grabbed a box of cookies before bringing them over to the counter. She hopped up to sit and patted the space beside her for Ari to do the same. Ari just shook her head before hopping up on the counter to sit beside the woman, reaching for a cookie as she did.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, just I talked to Oliver today about me joining the team and this time he actually listened and still refused." Ari took a bite of her cookie.

"So I guess that's it." Katie says turning away and taking a bite of her own cookie and Ari turned to her with a quirked brow. "That's one fantasy you can put to rest."

"What is this? Reversed psychology?" Katie chuckled when she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out to see Thea's number and quickly answered.

"Hey, what's up?" soon Katie heard of Oliver's latest plan to catch their latest bad guy alone and she sighed. "Alright, I'll handle it." Katie ended the call before hopping off the counter. "I have to leave for a bit." she turned to Ari. "You stay here with Robyn. I shouldn't be gone long."

"Is he in trouble?"

"Well he will be when I get there."

Oliver was pinned down. Just moments earlier he entered the warehouse, bullets flying as the Ragman tossed Church's men one by one before cornering his target. Janet Carroll. Oliver would've stopped him, but Church was currently trying to push an arrow into his eye. He could maneuver out of it, but he needed to confirm something first.

"Ragman!" he called and in just seconds, Ragman's rags grab Church and toss him across the warehouse. "Thank you."

"Thank me by not standing in my way." They turn at the sound of Janet's high heeled feet as she runs for the door. Ragman attempts to run after her.

"Let her go!" they heard the sounds of nearing sirens. Janet wasn't getting away. "It's over." The Ragman let out growl. Oliver glanced around and sighed when he noticed that Church was gone as well."We have to go, but we should talk." the Ragman turned back to Oliver. "Half hour, the roof of Bam2 Muay training." and without another word, Oliver shoots a zip arrow up and shoots up to the second landing. As soon as his feet touches the ground, he looks over his shoulder to see the flashing lights in the distance. He hurries to his bike.

"Do I want to know what this meeting is about?" Felicity spoke through the comlink.

"Well I'll tell you if it goes as planned."

"Oh, you think your night is going to go follow your plan?" Felicity asked and Oliver quirked a brow. "That's adorable."

Oliver came upon his bike and sighed. "Thanks for the warning Felicity."

"Thank your sister." Felicity laughed before ending the transmission.

Oliver walked over to his wife who was leaning against his bike.

"How long have you been here?"

"Long enough to see you and Tobias Church in a fight, the mummy guy save you from a move I don't think you really needed saving from, oh and then there's your meeting in an hour." Katie shook her head before walking over to the man. "You came out here alone." she shook her head before turning and stalking away from him toward her car.

"Twinkie, wait, I had the situation under control and I had a feeling about him." Katie stopped and turned to the man. "I understood his motives, and I hoped he wasn't as bad as we assumed."

"Oh, you came out here alone with hope in your heart."

"I did and I was right!" Oliver let out a huff. "I get it. I might not always be right, and I know I can't do this job alone. I'm meeting with him to ask if he would join the team and I will talk to the others tomorrow." They stood there for a moment, silently watching the other.

"Ok," Katie turned to leave and Oliver frowned before walking after her. After these crazy couple of days, the last thing he wants is any negativity between them.

"That's not—Twinkie, wait." she stopped and turned back to him. "I'm sorry." Katie walked over to stand in front of him.

"Don't be. I care about your safety. As long as you know how to keep yourself safe then I'm good. And hope or not, it was still a risk for you to come out here tonight." she shook her head. "Hell it was a risk for you to do this job alone when your team left months ago. But I can only assume that went on for as long as it did because your conscience wasn't around." the man quirked a smile and she couldn't hide her own. "But I'm here now, you should make your peace with the fact that I am going to do everything in my power to make sure you stay around. Even nag you like an annoying wife." she took another step forward and placed a kiss to his cheek. "You should be getting to your meeting, I'll see you when you get home." she made to pull back, but Oliver's arms wrapped around her waist keeping her in place pressed against him.

"Tell me what you remembered." Oliver asked again and Katie cracked a smile before placing a hand to his cheek. "You still not going to tell me, are you?"

"Not yet." she pulled from his grasp and turned and headed for her car. Oliver stood there for a moment, hope once again in his heart that whatever she told him, he was definitely going to like.

It was finally Friday, and Ari let out her normal sigh of contentment when she stepped into the house and smiled at the thought of sleeping in tomorrow. She dropped her backpack on the floor and kicked her shoes off of her feet before heading into the kitchen for a snack. In no time flat she had a sandwich in one hand, her cell phone in the other as she walked upstairs to change out of her uniform. She smiled as she read Jamie's latest post, a meme with some weird looking cat happy about the weekend. Of course she liked and commented a "LOL" before stepping into her room. Ari sat her sandwich down before she pulled a t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants from her drawer and tossed them on the bed. Her eyes happened to glance up to see a folded up piece of paper on her pillow.

With a furrowed brow, Ari reached over and picked up the paper, and unfolded it.

" _Don't make me regret this."_ the note read with a time and an address written underneath. Ari smiled because it was Oliver's handwriting and if this note meant what she hoped it meant, then she was finally getting her shot.

Robyn Maisie Queen stared at the room filled with faces she'd never seen before. Her eyes lifted to her mother who smiled down to her before she too turned her eyes to them.

Katie took deep breath as she stared to the unfamiliar eyes of the people in the room in front of her. Well they weren't all strangers. She looked across the room to Michael who gave her thumbs up. She swallowed the nervousness in her throat opening her mouth, only to stop when the door once again opened and in stalked Annabelle Grey who cut her eyes to Katie with a look of annoyance as she took her seat at the head of the table.

"Sorry for my tardiness Mrs. Queen, but this meeting was last minute and quite unexpected." Annabelle said before turning to Michael. "And Mr. Carroll didn't really give me that much of a heads up." he simply shrugged.

"Well we're all here now." Michael says before turning back to Katie. "Why don't you go ahead." Katie simply nodded before turning back to the board members. She once again let out a deep breath, deciding to just get this over with so she could leave.

"First of all I would like to thank all of you for coming today. Like Ms. Grey said, this meeting was last minute and I am even surprised many of you would even show up. I understand you're all very busy making sure my family's company thrives and I want you all to know that you have my upmost appreciation." she let out a nervous breath as they all kept their gazes locked on her. "Oh, I also want to apologize for having to bring my daughter along to this meeting. I'm not sure if there are rules against babies being in here, but I had no one else to watch her."

"No apologies necessary, Mrs. Queen." Katie's eyes lifted to an older lady sitting further down the table. "You and your daughter are both welcome here and if you don't mind, I think a few of us would actually like to see just how big she's gotten later." Katie smiled over to the woman before turning.

"Right, well I asked you all here because I need your help. That being said, I'm not even sure if what I'm about to ask is possible or even if I can even make this type of request seeing as I'm not an actual employee of this company." she reached down and grabbed the remote control and pointed toward the screen behind her and soon a picture of the clinic appeared. "You all may have heard of Mayor Queen working on developing a free clinic in Star City." Katie turned back to the board members. "And when it came time to finding a financial backer for this Clinic that would help so many in this city, he decided to go with Amertek." Katie's eyes turned to Annabelle who sat back in her chair with a bored expression on her face. "Due to some...unfavorable interactions between the city and this company, the Mayor thought distancing himself from this company was the right course of action." soon eyes glanced over to Annabelle who still didn't react and she told herself she wouldn't. "I'm here today because I'm hoping those unfavorable interactions were just...misinterpretations. I know this company. I know what it means to this city and I also know that something as important as a free clinic would be something this company wouldn't hesitate to stand behind."

"So you're here because your financial backer is going bankrupt, it's CEO is going to jail and now your little clinic is caught in the cross hairs?" Annabelle asked and Katie turned to her. "I think that's what I'm hearing, is that correct Mrs. Queen?" Katie looked at the woman for a moment, before a smile came to her face.

"In more or less words, Ms. Grey. But what you missed was that, the city shouldn't have turned to Amertek in the first place. Mayor Queen's entire political campaign has been tied to Robins Incorporated and a goodwill venture such as this should have come directly to you, but it didn't."

"If only we all had learned that golden rule about keeping our hands to ourselves." Michael muttered and Annabelle turned a glare to him and he simply smirked.

"Even so-" Annabelle said turning back to Katie. "Having my company come in to pick this up after this Amertek scandal would mean-"

"Robins Incorporate saves the day once again!" Michael says. "It's the headline that will be posted on every newspaper in this city." he walked around the table toward Katie. "And with this company having ties to a clinic created by Katherine Queen, then-"

"No, this clinic was an idea of the Mayor. That should be clear. I am only offering assistance." Katie turned back to Annabelle. "The truth is Ms. Grey, you're not the only meeting I have scheduled today, I just figured I would stop here first to mend those fences between your company and the Mayor. The truth is this clinic isn't closing, I'm just giving you the opportunity to get the credit for why it doesn't." she turned, but stopped and turned back to the board members. "Oh, and just for clarification, no one from City Hall sent me here today. No one actually knows I'm here. This is totally me, so none of you will have to worry about the reputation of the company's name if you decide to not help. So, that's all I have. I'll let you discuss this amongst yourselves and anyone wanting to see one of the cutest babies I've ever seen, well meet me out in the hall." and with that Katie grabbed the handles of Robyn's stroller and headed for the door, a few board members following behind her. Michael moved to follow as well, but Annabelle, stood to her feet to block him.

"Aw, you should look more happy. The key to fulfilling that promise you made to the board just fell into your lap."

"You know, I know what you're doing and you should know it's not going to work. This is my company and if you try to take it away from me, then I would take that as clear sign of your disloyalty to this company." Michael smiled at the woman and gave her a nod.

"But Ms. Grey, you should know all of my decisions are made because of just how loyal I am to this company and if you're worried then I believe that's more on you than me." and with that the man moved around the woman for the door. Annabelle stood there for a moment before turning to see that the entire room was empty, all the members having left to see a baby. Annabelle slammed her fist on the boardroom table.

"No more waiting!"

That evening, Felicity met Oliver the moment he walked into the training hideout, once again dressed as the Green Arrow.

"So, you're still alive. I guess your wife didn't kill you." Felicity said and Oliver shook his head as they walked down the hall.

"She didn't, but I figure I don't have too many more chances to avoid her wrath if I don't fix this."

"And you didn't think drafting a stranger wasn't risky?"

"Yeah," Oliver said. "And I'm not done yet."

"Well if that's the case, you may have to actually share his complete story with Katie." Felicity said and Oliver stopped and turned to her. "Oliver, she somehow stopped Genesis Day, and yet she missed one nuke Darhk had squirreled away that wiped out an entire town. Look I don't know what happened or how that thing that was inside of her that planned out so much, missed that. It's just this entire story and it's link to Darhk, when she hears it then-"

"Then she won't hear it." Oliver said simply and Felicity looked at him in confusion. "I'm not going to say anything and you won't either."

"I won't?" Felicity asked and Oliver sighed. "Oliver I feel like at this point in your marriage, actually at this point in your entire relationship with Katie you have to realize that keeping her in the dark intentionally does not end well. Especially with you. When you keep things from her, it makes her feel as if she can't trust you. You need to talk to her."

"And what if I can't?" Oliver asked with a shake of his head. "What if I don't want to ruin our life by bringing up that terrible time I just want to forget."

"Because you know more better than anyone that trying to forget something is impossible. You also know that when you keep things from Katie, at some point she finds out. Let it be from you this time." they stopped at the steps and looked down to the recruits, but it's who'd just walked in did Felicity's eyes pop out of her head. "Wait, is that-" she turned to Oliver who looked down as well and let out a heavy sigh. "You're actually doing this?"

"I think I am."

Curtis was the first to look up and the moment he saw the red headed teen stroll in, his heart dropped. He looked over to Rene and Evelyn who turned, now seeing her as well and that meant getting her out of here unnoticed was now impossible.

"Wait, what are you doing here?" it was Rene who asked and Ari turned to him and just shook her head before going about to look around. The man turned to Curtis and Evelyn who both shrugged.

"So is this where you're training?" Ari asked turning back to them and they all just stared at her. "I don't know why, but I expected something a little bit more cool."

"Seriously, what the hell is going on, and why is the spawn of satan here?" Rene asked. They turned as they watched the Green Arrow and Felicity come downstairs.

"Thank you all for coming." came the Green Arrow's modulated voice.

"Well I'm only here because blondie said there would be an apology." Rene said looking over to the man who moved to stand in front of them, stopping with his back to them.

"Well blondie was right," The Green Arrow said. "you're not just joining the Green Arrow," With a deep breath, he pulled the hood from his head and removed his mask before turning to them and as expected they all looked shocked. "You'd be joining me."

"The Green Arrow is the Mayor." Evelyn said with a shake of her head.

"I had the same cognitive dissonance." Curtis said with a smile.

"I hope you don't think I'm going to apologize for the trash I talked about you." Rene said and Oliver turned him.

"No more than I'm going to apologize for the tough training, but I understand that you all need to trust me. This is as far as I know how to go."

"You're sort of asking without asking if we want to come back, right?" Curtis asked.

"Obviously," came the muttered voice from behind Oliver and when he turned, he saw Ari still nosing about before turning to see eyes on her. "What?" Oliver gave her that annoyed look she hated and she simply smiled.

"Well I'm in. " Curtis said with a smile.

"Me, too." Evelyn said. They all turned to the notably silent Rene.

"Wild Dog?" Felicity said and the man sighed.

"I'll fight any war as long as I trust who's leading me into battle... But we have got to rethink this codename." Oliver walked over to him and held out a hand. Rene reached out and shook it.

"No chance." they all turned at the sound of the loud ringing of the bell. All eyes once again turned to Ari who smiled innocently.

"Seriously, is this it?" she asked.

"Will you stop messing around and get over here." Oliver said and Ari quickly ran over to stand beside him. "Everyone I would like to introduce you to a possible-" he turned back to Ari. "And I stress the word possible, member of this team." he nudged his head for her to stand beside them and she nodded before going over to stand beside Curtis. "Ari will be training with us."

"Wait, she was the girl who tried to disarm the bomb." Rene said.

"And you were the idiot who almost blew us all up." Ari replied and Rene glared over to her.

"Well now that we're all friends how about we get back to training." Oliver said before turning and walking over to stand in front of the bell. Ari looked around and watched as the others sighed as they pulled off their jackets and walked over to stand on the line.

"You should go," Felicity whispered over to her. "Good luck." and with that the blonde looked over to Oliver. "I think I'm going to head home." he looked over to her with a smile before giving a nod and watching as she headed for the door.

Ari pulled off her jacket and walked over to stand beside the others as they all stood there and looked over to Oliver.

"Begin!" he called and without another word they all went running...well almost everyone. Ari stayed on the line and watched as Oliver took down all three of them before looking over to her. "Ari, the goal of this exercise is to get past me to ring the bell."

"Yeah, I got that."

"Then what are you waiting for?" he asked and she looked at him for a moment before she watched as the others stood to their feet and headed back over to the line. She turned back to him and just shook her head.

"Nothing, let's go again." Ari said moving to align herself with the others.

"Alright, go!" Oliver called and this time when they all ran, Ari quickly shot forward, and slipped a leg in front of Evelyn causing the girl to trip. Evelyn turned a glare to Ari who just shrugged.

"You should watch where you're going next time." Ari said and Evelyn angrily stood to her feet and shoved Ari to the floor.

"You did that on purpose!" Evelyn went to attack, but Oliver rushed over to stand in front of her and she just sighed before walking away. Oliver let out a low growl before turning to Ari who was still sitting on the floor.

"Do you want to explain yourself? I saw you, you tripped her on purpose. Why?" Oliver's answer came from the sound of the bell ringing behind him. He turned to see Curtis ringing the bell with a smile. Oliver looked over to him before turning back to Ari who smiled up to him brightly before jumping to her feet.

"Well you're kind of predictable BM, so what's the next lesson?" she bumped his arm as she moved passed him to stand beside the others and he just shook his head, unable to hide slight smile on his face. He turned to see her walk over to Evelyn and apologize, explaining her plan to the girl who simply nodded before they all turned back to Oliver.

"Well your tactic though successful, was still missing a crucial element." Oliver said folding his arms over his chest. "When you're on a team, there are no solo missions. Everyone goes in knowing their parts to play." He turned to Ari.

"You just can't take the 'L' can you?" Ari asked and Oliver let out a sigh when his phone suddenly vibrated. He turned, pulling it from inside his hood, before looking down to see a text from Katie.

" _Now_." it read and Oliver smiled because he knew the meaning behind the word and so he turned back to the others.

"I have to go, but I want you all to stay and think about what I told you. You know your mission, now you must come up with a plan to achieve it." with that, Oliver turned and hurried up the stairs.

After changing, Oliver hurried home. The moment he appeared at the front door, he rushed inside, about to head upstairs, but he stopped. He turned and went to the living room where he found Katie sitting on the couch. She didn't turn to him and so he walked over to bring himself into her line of sight.

"Twinkie?"

"You have to sit over there." Katie says pointing to the empty space on the couch beside her. Oliver looked over to her in confusion, but walked over and sat down.

"Ok, is everything alright?" he asked looking over to her and she turned to meet his eyes, but she didn't say anything.

"This is it." she said and Oliver stared still confused as he waited for her to say more. "The room is decorated differently, this couch is different, but this is where it happened."

"Where what happened?" Oliver asked and Katie smiled as she turned away from him.

"Did you know that the last time I saw my mother, I was just heading out for school. I had my bag about to leave, but she suddenly tossed her arms around me and told me that she loved me. And then I told her that I loved her too." Oliver reached over and took her hand in his, knowing that the topic of her mother wasn't something she spoke about often, but he knows the emotions that strike her when she does. "Then I came home and she was gone." she turned back to look at Oliver. "I never said the words I love you to anyone else after that day. Not my father, not boyfriends, not even the man I almost married. I just avoided the word and they never seemed to notice." she looked down to their conjoined hands. "And then one day a crazy man destroyed half the city and I found you in this living room." she looked back up to his eyes and she saw the emotions playing on his face. " And you were sad and angry and I had a realization." Katie removed her hand from his before she slid over into his lap, straddling him. "I couldn't avoid the word anymore because when I looked at you, no other emotion came even close." Katie placed her hands on both side of Oliver's face, and his hands snakes around her waist as they look into each other's eyes. "Oliver the moment I stopped being afraid of wanting more with you, happened right here in this room. This is where I trusted you enough to finally cross the line. And I know it's just one moment I remember, but it was a very important one and it made me see what I couldn't before." she leaned forward, dropping her forehead to his and she felt his grasp around her tighten. "I realized that it was ok to be scared, and it was ok that you might not reciprocate those feelings, I realized that it is ok to love you." she pulled back and her eyes looked down to his. "Which I do. I love you. I-"

The front door opened, and soon they heard footsteps that stopped. "Oh my gosh!" Katie lifted her head to see Thea standing at the entry way to living room, her back now toward them. "You know, I think now is the perfect time to tell you that I'm moving out. I figure it would save us all the embarrassment of my impeccably bad timing." Thea sighed before hurrying upstairs.

Katie brought her eyes back to Oliver and just laughed. He still hadn't said anything which she knew at this point he should have something to say.

"I hate when you do that silent thing. Just say some-" Oliver's hand snakes around behind her so he could capture her lips. And just like that same kiss that happened all those years ago in this very room, this one was also filled with so many emotions.

Love. Passion. Hope...And Devotion.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Hiding in A dream**

" _There is nothing to fear except the persistent refusal to find out the truth, the persistent refusal to analyze the causes of happenings."_

_-Dorothy Thompson_

* * *

Today wasn't going to be a good day. Katie had already determined that early this morning when she got the call that the venue for Ari's birthday party was flooded from a busted pipe and would be closed for the next couple of weeks. The party was in a couple days, everyone they invited had sent in their RSVP and now she had to figure out where exactly she would find a place that would accept such a short notice reservation. But that wasn't her biggest problem at the moment.

No at the moment, Katie stood in a very humid classroom, her phone pressed to her ear as Oliver Queen stuck a nail in his coffin.

"So what you're saying is, you're not coming?" she asked and she heard him sigh.

" _I'm sorry, I had to come to City Hall to talk to Thea and deal with this whole thing of her deciding to name Quentin as my deputy mayor. We're in traffic now, I think there was an accident, but I'm not sure how long it's going to be."_

Katie closed her eyes and dropped her head against the window. Just a few days ago, she an Oliver once again crossed that line in their relationship, and it was all cute and fun, and they had their little romantic bubble for a while, but then real life, and kids and being the mayor and vigilante crept back in and it was taking a toll.

"You're not coming." she sighed lifting her head from the window and looked over to the impatient looks from the boy's parents the school's councilor. "I guess I'm flying solo."

" _Twinkie, I'm sorry."_

"I know, but it doesn't change anything." she replied before ending the call and walking back over. "As I guessed, Oliver is stuck with work, he's trying to get here, but we should just start." the councilor looked over to the other parents who simply nodded before they all took their seats around the meeting table. Katie sat on one side, while the couple sat on the other, and the councilor took the seat at the head.

"Hi, my name is Mr. Garner. Has everyone been introduced?" he asked with a smile as he glanced around the table.

"Uh, not really." Katie says with a slight smile as she turns to the couple. "I'm Katherine R-" she caught herself. It was taking a bit longer for her to actually remember what her last name was. "Katherine Queen. I am Ari's cousin and her legal guardian."

"Well I am Hazel Burns, and this is my husband Cliff. We're Brandon's parents." Hazel turned to the councilor. "And we're here to discuss why the girl who assaulted our son hasn't been expelled."

"Expelled?" Katie said and they turned to her. "I thought punishment was supposed to come after we actually determined what happened in this situation. At least that's what I was told by principal Harris."

"I think we all know what happened. Arianna hit our son and broke his nose. He had to get stitches. Do you know how traumatizing something like that is to a child?"

"You know what else is traumatizing?" Katie says, her glare now fixed on the woman sitting across from her. "Being verbally abused, and being made fun of for not having her parents in her life."

"I'm sorry Mrs. Queen, but some mean words doesn't justify a physical assault." the woman replied. The councilor opened his mouth to interject and to calm the tensions that were already starting to arise, but he never got the chance. "You should know that better than anyone."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Katie asked and Hazel chuckled glancing over to her husband who sighed with a shake of his head.

Hazel turned back to the woman. "I guess that whole amnesia thing is real." Katie frowned as she sat back in her chair. "Cliff and I attended Starling High the same year you did. We know about you and the whole "Twinkie" jab practically the whole school threw at you and I didn't see you punching people in the nose." the woman turned to Mr. Garner, who nervously turned from Katie to the Burns'. "We were nice enough not to press charges, but we demand that the school does something with this girl. We nor our son feel safe having her attend this school." she turned back to Katie who still hadn't replied. "You need to get better control over that girl or she'll end up behind bars like her mother."

Katie scoffed before standing to her feet, fully intending to walk around this table and show this woman just how unsafe she should feel, but she stopped her self. Katie stood there, closed her eyes and let out a deep breath before opening her eyes and looking back to the couple.

"Ari has written both your son and you apologies for her actions, something your son hasn't done. Ari now has been required to stay after school twice a week for the next month to tutor students who need extra help. Ari wrote an entire essay which she has delivered to principal Harris on the reason for her actions and why they were wrong." Katie shook her head. "I agree that in this situation, Ari's behavior was unacceptable and she understands that and has been working really hard to make an amends. Your son hasn't apologized, and no one has talked to him about why it's wrong to bully someone. If he's not careful, he may end up getting worse than a broken nose."

"And what does that mean?" Hazel stood to her feet. "Was that a threat? Did you just threaten our son?"

"No, I did not." Katie said. "I will reimburse you for all medical costs for son."

"We don't need your money!"

"Now Hazel-" it was Cliff who finally broke his silence and stood to his feet, placing a hand on his wife's arm. She turned her glare to him and they stared at each other for a moment before the woman grabbed her purse and stalked out of the room. Cliff let out a sigh before turning back to Katie. "I'm sorry, she's really upset about this."

"I understand." Katie reached into her bag and grabbed a pen before grabbing a sheet of paper and writing down her and Oliver's number and email address. "Give me a call or email your information and we will take care of everything." she handed it to the man before turning to Mr. Garner. "What I wanted from this meeting was a fair punishment for both children. If Mr. Harris decides that expelling Ari is fair, we'll accept it." she turned back to Cliff. "Ari hasn't had an easy life. The fact that her parent's indiscretions have been publicized have followed her and will follow her. Your wife is right, I have dealt with my own bullying when I was these kids age, and I didn't revert to violence, but honestly I wished I had." Katie turned and grabbed her bag to leave.

"He's a good kid." Cliff said, and Katie stopped and turned to him. "Things have just been a bit trying since I lost my job and I guess he's been acting out."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Katie says. "If you don't mind me suggesting, maybe you could look into the New Beginning's Initiative. I know I helped create it, but I actually don't remember. I've read about it though, and it seems to help in situations like yours."

"That's just it. That's how I got the job. I went through the entire process and it worked out perfectly. Then they laid off a bunch of us because they couldn't afford the extra fees NBI were enforcing." Cliff shook his head. "Look I'll talk to Hazel and Brandon. I'm going to have Brandon apologize, because despite my wife's talk, she knows what it's like to be bullied as well and we all were in Ari's place. Either take it or do something about it. She did something about it and we wished we did the same." the man turned and headed for the door.

"Mr. Burns?" Katie said and the man stopped and turned to her. "Where exactly did you work?"

Katie walked down the empty halls of her old high school, her phone pressed to her ear.

" _I knew you would call."_ purred the voice of on Michael Carroll. " _Please tell me you're calling to accept my offer."_

"No, actually I'm calling about the New Beginning's Initiative. I just spoke to a man who said he was laid off because the company he worked for couldn't afford the additional fees." she heard the man sigh.

 _"I voted against it, but she was able to convince the majority of the board to vote with her."_ Micheal replied.

"I'm a shareholder right? Don't I have a say?" Katie heard the man laugh and she stopped walking. "Am I amusing you?"

" _You are Sweets. You my dear hold over fifty percent of RI's voting stock which means yes, you do have a say. But the power you have allows you to undo the entire thing, and that may leave some bad blood with the members of the board who voted with Anna."_

"So I need to convince them to change their vote. Try the democratic way and if that doesn't work-"

" _Go dictator on their asses."_ Michael said.

Katie rolled her eyes as she continued walking. "I'm going to need an argument. Are you able to get me a list of all the companies who now have taken on these fees, which have dropped out of the initiative, who've stay, but have laid off employees, and also if this change had a profit gain or loss for the company." she stepped out of the school and spotted Ari sitting on the steps reading a book. "You still there?"

_"Yeah, I am, just taking all of this in."_

"Taking what in."

" _You, making boss moves. Just say yes and we can get you voted back on the board and start the process of getting Annabelle out of here and you in."_

"I'm definitely not ready for anything like that. For right now, people are losing their jobs which is the opposite of what's supposed to happening with NBI. Let me know when you have everything."

" _Maybe we should come up with some sort of strategy to handle this. We can discuss it over dinner. What do you say?"_

"I say, you should probably not ask me out on a date again or I will stop calling you."

" _You're no fun, fine. I'll call you when I got something for you."_

Once the call ended, Katie stepped over to Ari who looked up from her book.

"So what's the damage?" Ari stood to her feet and walked along side Katie toward the car.

"Well I'm not completely sure. This meeting was to try to help determine the best punishment for both of you, but it kind of went left and I almost punched the kid's mom." Ari chuckled and Katie stopped and turned to her.

"Right, not funny since this is happening because of me." Katie let out a sigh before placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"No, this isn't only on you. I want you to always stand up for yourself against bullies. Maybe refrain from violence if you can." she turned to Hank who smiled as he walked over to pull open the door. "I have a day, so I'll be taking my car." she turned back to Ari.

"You still haven't found a place for the party?"

"Don't worry about it. I will." Katie gave a wave before heading over to her car.

"Hey wait, did Oliver ditch the meeting?!" Ari called and Katie stopped and glanced over to her and just sighed before continuing to her car. "He's so dead."

"Yes he is." Hank chuckled before nudging the girl. "Hey let's go. We should be heading to City Hall, and traffic is hell."

Oliver stalked into his office, letting his door slam behind him as he dropped into his seat and let out a heavy sigh as he slid his hands over his face. Once again, he took out his cell phone and dialed Katie's number, and yet again it went to voice mail.

"So I'm assuming you are now screening my calls and avoiding me." Oliver spoke. "I'm sorry, I should've made sure my schedule was free so this wouldn't happen. Please believe me that if I could've been there, I would've. Please talk to me." he ended the call and tossed his phone to his desk before closing his eyes and leaning back in his seat. The door to his office opened, and when he opened his eyes he sighed at the sight of Ari. "I thought I told you to head straight to the bunker."

"Yeah, I know, but I thought I would come here first to warn you." Ari says dropping into the seat across from him.

"How upset was she?"

"Well she didn't say anything to me, but she had a look." Ari sighed. "I guess the meeting was all over the place. She said there was a point where she wanted to punch Brandon's mom. Plus I think she's still trying to figure out the whole party thing even though I told her we could just cancel it."

"She's not going to do that." Oliver said with a shake of his head, picking up his phone and wondering if he should call her again.

"Plus I think something is going on with RI." Ari said and Oliver looked over to her. "I think she was talking to someone at the company because she was talking about NBI." Oliver groaned as he turned away. He thinks this has to do with Annabelle changing up the initiative. He assumed she would give it up after their meeting, but obviously she didn't. "So a lot is going on and then you ditched her and now you're not her favorite person anymore." Oliver looked over to her and she held up her hands. "You just got to do whatever you usually do to get back into her good graces."

"That would be easy if she actually answered my calls." Oliver said picking up his phone.

"Well can call her on the way. We should be going." Ari says standing to her feet and Oliver looked over to her. Her entire mood changed when he decided to give her chance to be on the team. She seemed excited and anxious even though she wasn't really getting along with Rene, or Evelyn, which she didn't seem to care at all about.

Oliver stood to his feet and walked behind the girl, once again bringing his phone to his ear.

Katie looked down to her phone that sat on the coffee table in front of her.

"Oliver again?" she looked up to Nick who sat across from her and she just sighed before flipping over the phone. "You should answer."

"No, I'm not ready to talk to him yet." Katie replied sitting back on the couch and looking down to her journal in her lap. "So I've been writing in this thing, but I'm not sure if it's helping."

"Why?"

"Because some of these memories are more detailed than others. Some of them are vague and it's frustrating."

"Have you talked to anyone in your family? Maybe they could provide the missing details." Katie turned away and Nick took in her stance at the mention of talking to her family. "What are you thinking about right now?"

"Nothing, it's just I always get the feeling they're hiding something from me." Katie turns back to him. "Like I'm getting all of these puzzle pieces, but I can't see the pieces in between and I think they know it, but they're not telling me."

"And why do think that is?"

Katie had asked herself that question. The only thing she could assume was that it was something they were trying to protect her from. Something they were afraid would upset her.

"Since I woke up in this new life, with this new family, I've come to realize that they're all very protective. Trying to shield me from the things that could hurt me." she turned away and thought about the "dreams" of the woman who looked like her. "Maybe I'm trying to protect myself too."

"What do you mean?"

Katie shook her head. "I've been having these weird dreams I think. In them there's a woman and she looks just like me. She knows things." she turns back to Nick. "I think she knows everything."

"So you're seeing yourself, or a version of yourself who remembers what you can't."

"Yeah, and when I tell her to come back she refuses, like she's afraid of something bad happening if she did." Katie slid her hands across her face. This was the first time she'd talked about these dreams out loud to another person.

"Does she tell you why she's afraid?"

"No, she usually wants me to leave whenever I see her."

"Would you say these memories happen more frequently during or after these dreams?" Nick asked and Katie turned away to think.

"Maybe." she said before standing to her feet and walking near the window. Nick scribbled a few notes before looking back over to the woman.

"Once again by the window." Nick says and Katie rolls her eyes before turning back to him. "Do you no longer want to talk about this?"

"That's not it, it's just-" she turned back to look out the window. "It feels like there's this ticking time bomb and I'm hovering above it trying to decide which wire to cut." she turned around and shrugged. "The problem is there is no right wire. Cutting any wire will detonate the explosion."

"So you could either do nothing and stay safe or cut the wire and take whatever blows out at you." Nick stood to his feet and dropped the note pad to the table before walking over to stand in front of the woman. "Well I think you have to remember that you don't have to cut the wire alone. Your friends, your family, I'm sure they will stand by you."

Katie turned back to her phone that rang and when she walked over to look down to the screen she shook her head at the sight of Oliver's name once again.

"I mean there's one guy in particular who I'm sure would be at your side." Nick says.

Ari's eyes were on the mug shot of some drug dealer named Carl Roberto. Oliver had left a while ago to find the guy, while they all stay behind to watch from a video feed.

"He's not looking for a challenge." Felicity said. "This is about teaching the 5 of you what happens out there and how to handle it." their team of four turned into a team of 5 with the addition of Rory Regan, the Ragman. It was a decision Ari wasn't too sure about, but she had no say in the matter.

"Well I'm up for any lesson that doesn't involve getting punched in the face." Evelyn says looking down to the video.

"Wait, he hits you guys?" Rory asked looking around to the others who just nodded.

"Ari?" Ari turned to find Felicity standing behind her. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Ari says before walking over to join the others to watch the video. Felicity sighed before going back to her seat.

They all stood and watched how easily Oliver was able to handle this guy. Within seconds, he had him tied up and hanging over the edge of the roof of the building they were on.

" _Stardust!"_ Oliver says before punching a hanging Carl.

"Who's Stardust?" Rory asks.

"Not a who. "Ari says looking down to the screen. Felicity turned to her with a quirked brow. She feels the eyes and turns to see Rory and Felicity looking over to her. "It's a what. Newest drug on the street."

"That's right. It makes PCP look like aspirin, but I'm more interested in how you know about it." Felicity says still looking at Ari who shakes her head.

"I'm in high school, there's not a lot I'm not exposed to." Ari says turning back to the screen.

"But I think you being exposed to drugs might be something your guardians might want to know." Felicity says.

 _"I want your supplier!"_ Oliver demands and the man hanging there shakes his head.

_"I can't, he'll kill me!"_

_"What do you think I'm going to do?"_

Ari frowned at the words. Would he really kill the man? Would they be expected to kill people on this team?

"He's not going to kill him, is he?" Evelyn asked Felicity who stared at the screen unsure of the answer.

"That is—that's an excellent question." Felicity continued watching hoping this little shake down didn't get that far.

Ari cleared her throat and Felicity looked over to her. "I'm going to get some water." without another word, the teen turns and hurries away. Felicity watches her with a slight frown. She assumes this was a side of Oliver she hadn't seen before and she's probably certain it's a side he's probably never wanted her to see.

The shake down ended with Oliver getting a name of the supplier, getting a sample of the Stardust from Carl's pocket, before cutting the man down and letting him fall from the roof.

"So what did we learn?" Felicity asked turning to the group.

"Don't piss Oliver off." Curtis says,

Evelyn Chuckles, "Like we needed that lesson."

"Information." Felicity says turning and glancing over to see that Ari still hadn't returned. "It's the currency of our business. Once Oliver returns he's going to ask me to analyze it so we can find out where it's being manufactured."

"I hate drugs." Rory said suddenly and they all turned to him. "Not in a recreational sense. I have a life, like anyone else. It's just-I saw what all the gang violence did to my hometown." Felicity cleared her throat and turned back to the screen. It happened whenever Rory brought up his hometown and she was reminded of what happened and the secret she didn't think she would be able to keep.

"Um, I'm going to download tonight's surveillance footage to DVDs. Oliver wants you to study them like a football player would break down a game tape."

"And then he'll let us in the field?" Rene asked.

"I'm guessing not." Curtis replied and Rene just shook his head.

"That guy is seriously underestimating my patience."

"I am." they all turned to see Oliver heading inside. "Because I didn't think you had any patience." he handed the Stardust to Felicity. "Let's analyze this and see if we can figure out where it was manufactured."

"Sure," Felicity says before nudging her head across the hideout. Oliver looked at her for a moment in confusion, before looking over to the others, suddenly realizing he didn't see Ari. Oliver let out a sigh, about to check on her, but was stopped.

"Look, analysis and forensics is cool and all, but that stuff takes time." Rene walked over to stand in front of Oliver. "I know the neighborhood where this dealer's slinging out of. I think I can guess where the Stardust is being made."

"Rene, we don't deal in maybes and guesswork."

"Or maybe rich boy Mayor Queen doesn't know the streets so good."

Oliver just shook his head. "Everyone get back to your training." he turned back to Rene. "You impress me in here, then maybe I'll let you impress me out there." with that he turned and headed off in search of Ari.

He'd only turn the corner to the other side of the hideout when he found her sitting on the floor her knees to her chest.

"Hey," she turned, looking up to him before standing to her feet. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm good." she made to join the others, but Oliver moved to block her. "You can't do this. When we're here, I'm a hero in training and you're the teacher, you can't interchangeably be the concerned guardian."

"I never agreed to that, and I wouldn't." Oliver says. "I will always be your concerned guardian. What's going on?" Ari lifted her eyes to the man, and sighed. His hood was gone and there was no mask. Right now he was just Oliver. Just moments ago he was the scary guy in a mask who threatened to kill a man and now she's trying to come to terms with that. "Was it something about tonight?

"No, it's just-" she shook her head. "I think you were right. There are parts of this job that I didn't know about and I think I saw some of it tonight." Ari says looking back to Oliver. "You kind of have to go to a dark place when you wear that mask, huh?" Oliver turned away, because she was right. There was a dark place he had to go to be the Green Arrow, he just wished to hell that she never had to see it. "Look I get it, certain situations call for specific solutions. I'm not traumatized or anything, really I'm good." this time when she moves to leave, he doesn't stop her.

Oliver turned at the sound of footsteps to see Felicity.

"How is she?"

"Not sure." Oliver replied folding his arms over his chest. "I'm not sure bringing her here was a good idea. She's not ready for this."

"Or maybe you're not ready for this. There's this whole part of you that she's never seen, and now she's seeing it. It's ok to be nervous about that." Oliver just nodded. "A radio call just came in. B-and-E on the shipping center on 8th and Amsterdam." Oliver nodded once again before turning and heading for the door.

Katie sat on the floor of her living room, phone pressed to her ear as she listened to what seemed like the expected response to every call she's made.

"Yes, I do know it's short notice, but I don't need bells and whistles. Just a place for a girl's 16th birthday party." she groaned because the owner wasn't budging. "No, ok thank you." she hung up the phone and sighed as she dropped her head back against the couch. She had no idea what she was going to do. With as many kids and parents that RSVP'd there's no way they could have the party at the house. She lifted her eyes back to her laptop and sighed. She'd went through every name on the list and none of them was taking a party her size just days before the actual party. "I don't know what I'm going to do." she sighed before standing to her feet and walking into the kitchen. She looked on top of the refrigerator and cursed under her breath. Of course there were no cookies. She probably stress ate them earlier this week and forgot to buy more. She turned at the sound of the front door opening and when she pushed opened the door to the kitchen, she stepped out to see Oliver who was just walking in. He closed the door behind him and stopped when he saw Katie staring back to him. Her eyes seemed to go from him to the bag in his hand. "What's in the bag?" Oliver glanced down to the bag before reaching inside and pulling out a box of her favorite cookies.

She hated him so much and yet she was hopelessly in love with him at the same time. Katie took a step toward him, but stopped. She wanted to be stubborn a little while longer and so she huffed before turning and stalking back into the kitchen. Oliver let out a sigh before heading in after her.

"You can't bribe me with cookies, you know." she said once he walked into the kitchen. "I'm still not happy with you."

"I know, which is why I brought you three boxes of cookies." Oliver said before placing them all on the kitchen counter. Katie looked over to the boxes, and she could feel herself needing the sugar to soothe her frustrations from the day. "Twinkie, I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, I know, I listened to all the voice mails." she replied walking over and grabbing one of the boxes before turning and heading back over to hop up on the counter. Oliver decided to test the waters, and so he eased over to stand in front of her.

"So how did it go?"

"Brandon's parents want Ari expelled." Katie sighed with a shake of her head.

"Seriously, I thought the purpose of the meeting was to come up with better solution than either of them being taken out of school."

"Yeah, well, Brandon's parents, Cliff and Hazel, who apparently went to high school with us, had only one solution in mind." Katie opened the box and grabbed a cookie and took a bite. "Can you believe Hazel actually told me that I need to get more control of Ari because if she's not careful she'll end up behind bars just like her mother."

"She actually said that?" Oliver asked and Katie nodded. "I guess now we see where Brandon gets it from."

"Yeah, because I was so tempted to punch her in nose." Katie sighed as she reached inside the box for another cookie. Oliver walked over to take her hand. "Just let me eat my feelings please."

"How about-" he took the box from her hands and she groaned in annoyance. "You share your feelings with me." Katie simply took a bite of the cookie she managed to snag before he took the box. "Twinkie-"

"How did training go?" she asked changing the subject. Oliver let out a sigh before reaching forward and snagging the piece of cookie in her hand and shoving it in his mouth. He smiled at the glare she sent him before she stubbornly turned away.

"Fine, Rene's still as impatient as ever." Oliver leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to the nape of her neck. "I'm not sure how Ari's handling the dark stuff that goes along with this job." Katie turns and Oliver meets her eyes. "I had them watch as I questioned a dealer about a drug that's moving on the streets."

"And by questioned, you mean beat up and threatened his life."

"That's usually how I get most of my information." Oliver's hands slid around her waist. "It's just a side of me she's never seen before."

"And now you're afraid she won't see you the same?" Oliver just sighed. "Talk to her. She loves you. She may be confused about what she saw, so maybe just explain the truth of why you do what you do." Oliver leaned into kiss her, only for her to turn away once again. "You stood me up." Oliver dropped his head on her shoulder. "Oliver Queen stood me up and now I question a lot about our relationship."

"You're never going to let me live this down, are you?" he asked and Katie smiled as she reached over and lifted his head so she could see his eyes.

"Oliver, I get your job is important, and it's hard and then you've taken on the responsibility of being the protector of this city," she placed a hand on his cheek. "I just need you to promise that when it is in your ability, please show up for us...for this...this family thing we have here. I know I'm new to this sort of, but I know it's important, because it has to be. Does that sound fair...or even possible with your life?" Oliver dropped his head. "Oliver, I'm not trying to make feel guilty about this. It was just a parent meeting, and you have a job to do, but it did kind of make me think about how this all works." he looked back up to her. "With all the balls you're trying to balance, where exactly do we fit?"

Oliver let out sigh. "You shouldn't have to ask that question...ever. This family will always be my main priority, and I'm sorry if my actions haven't shown that. I will do everything in my power to make sure I show up for our family." she placed a hand on his cheek and smiled before he once again leaned into kiss her. He frowned when she once again turned away. "I honestly don't know what else I have to do to show you how sorry I am."

"Oh, apology accepted, but I turned away, because I like when you kiss me right here-" she pointed to her neck and Oliver laughed before bringing his lips to the nape of her neck. Katie hummed at the feel of of his lips on her collar, but they soon ventured lower. Oliver's fingers reached for the buttons of her shirt, and in a move she partially objected, she reached up to stop him. Oliver pulled back and looked up to once again meet her eyes.

Unlike their last first kiss that happened years ago, their emotion and passion didn't lead to anything beyond kissing. But they ended up in moments like this quite often. Where a kiss, opens up other emotions and needs and it's usually Oliver who seems to forget the slow pace she seems to want to move.

"I'm sorry," she says and Oliver shakes his head.

"No, I'm sorry, We can take this as slow as you want." he smiled even though he's sure his body would disagree with him. Kissing her only made him want more which is why he always found himself getting carried away. They heard the sound of the front door opening.

"That's probably Ari." Katie whispers. "I should see if she wants any dinner." Oliver nodded before stepping back to allow her to step down from the counter.

When Felicity walked into her house tonight, it was quiet. She smiled at the prospect that maybe their extended house guests had finally gone home. Felicity walked further inside in search of Bruce. She'd texted him before arriving and he said he was here. When she walked into the living room, her eyes glanced over to the glass doors that lead to the backyard and she saw lights. Felicity walked over, and stepped outside. She continued along the stone path, stopping when she saw the beautifully decorated candlelight table, Bruce standing in front of it.

"What's all this?" Felicity asked walking over to Bruce whose arms slid around her when she was close enough.

"This is an apology dinner." Bruce said and Felicity looked confused. "For taking in a bunch of annoying super powered mystical freaks and letting them run loose in our house."

"Really? I hadn't noticed them." Felicity smiled and Bruce leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Where are our house guests from hell?"

"No idea, I sent them all away so we could have some time alone." Bruce said.

"So we're here alone?" she asked and Bruce nodded. "No super-hearing or x-ray seeing friends at all in the house?" Bruce quirked a brow as the woman began backing away from him. "I mean I'm hungry, but food could wait." Bruce smiled before hurrying forward and grabbing the woman and tossing her over his shoulder. Felicity let out a laugh as he took her back in the house. "Bruce!"

_Water struck her face as Katie's eyes looked up to the sky. There was a smile etched into her face as a crack of light seemed to begin expand. She couldn't help the satisfaction she felt, the pride that coursed through her veins. A smiled curled up to her lips when she suddenly heard footsteps. Her eyes lowered, her smile widening as Oliver stepped in front of her._

" _Look up Liver, it's happening." the look on his face was hard, very clear that he was upset. The smile dropped from Katie's face, because something wasn't right._

" _What did you do?" Oliver asked taking a step toward her, but she stepped back to keep the distance between them. "What did you do?"_

" _I don't—I don't know." he took another step and this time when Katie stepped back, her foot slid to the edge of the roof. She glanced over her shoulder, gasping when she realized just how high they were. She turned back to Oliver who still looked at her with what she thinks might be hatred._

" _I will never forgive you." and without another word he shoved her from the roof sending her falling to her death._

Katie's eyes snapped open with a gasp as she sat up from the bed. She felt her heart racing in her chest as remnants of the dream still played on the edge of her mind. She looked over to the side of her bed that was empty and she sighed. She looked over to the clock on the table beside her and rolled her eyes. It was barely six AM. She dropped back against her pillow. There was no way she was getting back to sleep.

She needed to clear her head and right now she only had one idea. And so Katie got up and dressed into a pair running shorts to go for a run. Katie quietly crept through the hall so she didn't wake anyone up.

When she stepped outside she began stretching as she walked down the porch steps.

"Good morning, Mrs. Queen," a voice spoke and Katie turned to see Steve. "Going for a run?"

"I was." she said as she continued stretching. "Any objections to going for a run?"

"Only if you don't object to an escort." he replied and Katie looked at him for a moment.

"Fine." she sighed.

A few moments later, Steve was changed, and the pair went running down the dim-lit street. Katie was hoping for a silent run, but it would seem that Steve was a talker.

"You know I had a friend who had trouble sleeping. He went to the doctor and I guess they prescribed him some kind of pill that solved the problem completely." he glanced over to Katie who simply continued to run in silence. "But you being a doctor probably know how to solve such a problem, I would guess." more silence and the man let out a sigh as he turned to run trying to keep in pace with the woman. "You know I had another buddy who-"

"Steve!" Katie snapped. She stopped running and turned to the man. "Would you-" she lifted her eyes for a second and paused.

"Mrs. Queen, is everything-" he turned following her eyes to a large house enclosed behind a fence. Without saying a word, Katie crossed the street and walked over to the fence, leaning in to get a better look at the house. It was the Queen mansion. It looked exactly the same, but different at the same time. The mansion clearly looked like it aged, but the flowers and manicured bushes still looked immaculate as always.

"I wonder who lives here now." she muttered looking around to see if there were any cars in the driveway.

"No one." Steve replied and Katie turned to him in confusion.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because you own that house, Mrs. Queen." Katie looked at the man with wide eyes before turning back to the mansion.

When Katie came back from her run, she started to head upstairs but stopped when she heard Robyn's voice coming from the kitchen. She smiled as she headed over.

"Can you say apple?" Katie gently pushed open the kitchen door to see Oliver sitting in front of Robyn as the girl ate her cereal. He was holding an apple in his hand out in front of her. "Ap-pohl," the baby just grinned and Oliver just shook his head.

"She'll get there." Katie says stepping through the door. Oliver looked over to her, taking in her clothes.

"Went for a run?"

"Yeah, couldn't sleep and thought a run would help clear my head." Katie headed for the refrigerator, grabbing a bottle of water before turning back to him.

"Bad dream?"

"Weird dream?" she replied leaning over the counter. "But there's something I want ask you." Oliver stood up and walked around to stand beside her. "Is it true that we own your old house?" he didn't say anything right away, but that look passes over his face that she now recognizes as a sign that they've strayed to a topic he doesn't want to talk about.

"Uh, yeah, we do." he says before turning and heading back over to sit in front of Robyn. Katie thinks she's supposed to take that as a sign that he wants to end the conversation, but as always, she's just too curious.

"Was that something you were going to tell me?"

"Uh, sure at some point I guess. I didn't think it was a big deal." Katie walked over and grabbed a chair from the table and placed it beside him, her eyes locked on him. "Twinkie, seriously, it's just a house."

"It's your house. The house you grew up in. The infamous Queen Mansion." he turned to her. "Why do we live here and not there?" Oliver sighed before turning back to his daughter who happily ate her cereal.

"We live here because it's home." Oliver says turning back to Katie. "The mansion was...big and quiet and it never felt like-" he shook his head as he glanced around the kitchen. "This." he turned back to Katie and shrugged. "This is our home." Katie looked at him for a moment before leaning forward and pressing her lips to his. It would seem that crossing that line meant that whenever she had the urge to kiss him, she would. Oliver's arm slipped around her, pulling her closer.

"Oh, ew—we eat in here." Katie pulled away with a sigh before turning to Ari who was already dressed for school.

"Good morning, Ari." Katie stood from her chair. "I have good news." Ari turned to Katie with a quirked brow. "I found a place for your party."

"Really? Where?"

Katie glanced over to Oliver who sighed and her brow furrowed in confusion. She turned back to Ari with a smile. "Uh, Oliver's old house. The Queen Mansion. It's not too far from here actually." Katie noticed the frown on Ari's face that the girl turned to Oliver. "What's wrong?" Ari turned back to Katie, but didn't say anything. She wasn't sure if she should tell her cousin that she doesn't have fond memories of the mansion because of a certain evil entity that took over her body.

"Maybe we should have the party somewhere else." Oliver suddenly said standing to his feet and walking over to stand beside Ari. "I could have Maddie check out some places." he turned back to Katie. "I'm sure she could find something by the end of the day." Katie looked over to the man a bit speechless. Here she was having spent the last week pulling her hair out trying to find a place for this party and now when she actually has a place, everyone's acting weird about it.

"Ok, what's going on? That house is perfectly fine, and it's free." Katie looked between Ari and Oliver. There was something there. Something about the mansion that they weren't telling her. Katie shook her head. "Fine, what's one more secret for everyone to know, but me." she shook her head before leaving the kitchen up the stairs.

Oliver let out a sigh before going to follow after her.

"I don't want my party there." Ari said and Oliver stopped and turned to her. "I just—" she shook her head. "I don't."

"Then it won't." Oliver walked over to stand across from her. "But if the reason you don't want to go there is because of fear-"

"It's not." she said quickly with a shake of her head. "Just that place doesn't hold the best memories for me." she looked over to the clock that hung on the wall. "I should go. I'll see you later." Oliver gave her a nod. watching her walked over to place a kiss to Robyn's head before heading out the kitchen.

"up-pool!" Oliver's eyes widened as he turned to his daughter.

"Did you just say apple?" Oliver went over to her, picking her up from her chair. "Can you say it again?" he placed a kiss to her cheek. "Say Ahh-poohl," the girl just smiled and he let out a chuckle. "So I'm guessing you're going to be stubborn like your mother."

Katie sat on the bed of her room, eyes closed. She hated this feeling. Hated that she couldn't remember. She hated that she felt like she'd done something wrong by suggesting the Queen Mansion for Ari's party. She let out a groan before opening her eyes and standing to her feet and walked in to the bathroom and turned to her reflection of the mirror.

"You have to come back," she pleaded. "Please just-" there was a knock at the door and dropped her head and let out a deep breath.

"Twinkie?" she walked back into the bedroom without a word, her eyes on the door as she dropped down to sit on the edge of the bed. "Can I come in?" she wanted him to come in and yet she would never say the words. "I'm sorry, I know you're probably confused." he let out a sigh. "I would really like to see your face right now...I'm coming in." Oliver opened the door, stopping at the sight of Katie sitting there on the bed looking back over to him. "Twinkie-"

"Are you going to tell me what the deal is with the Queen Mansion?" she asked and Oliver looked at her for a moment. She could see the deliberation happening inside of his head and she so wanted to know what it was about, but she had the sinking feeling he wasn't going to tell her. "You're not." she stood to her feet and walked over to stand near the window.

"I want to , I just-"

"You can't." she said turning to face him. "The Queen Mansion is on the list of things you won't tell me about because you're afraid that it will upset me." she shook her head. "You know you do that a lot." she turned away from him to look out the window. "Try to shield me from the pain."

"I love you and I just-" Oliver cleared the emotion from his throat this moment seemed to cause. He thought avoiding the problems could make them go away, and now he's realizing he hasn't been doing a good job of hiding them. Which shouldn't surprise him. His wife had an eye for the details. She had a way of reading him like no one else could.

"You're afraid." Katie says, her eyes looking back to Oliver who didn't object. "The things I can't remember, they're bad, right?" he didn't say anything and she really didn't expect him to. "And you want to protect me from it."

"I love you." he said again and he wonders if she understands just what the words mean for him. Because they mean that he'd do whatever it takes to make sure absolutely nothing hurts her. It's impossible. He's aware, but it would never stop him from trying.

Katie stood there for a moment before letting her eyes turn back to look out the window. He wasn't going to tell her and that makes her so much more afraid of what exactly she can't remember. At this point she's not even sure she wants to remember. Her eyes catch her reflection in the glass and she lets out a sigh.

"Uh, I got a call from the Ritz," she turned back to the man. "I guess one of their parties canceled, so we have a ballroom, and everything has gotten back on schedule for the party."

"Twinkie-"

"It's her birthday. If she doesn't want the party at the mansion, then fine." she looked down to the time on her phone. "You should be getting ready for work." she looked back up to Oliver who looked as if he wanted to say more, but she knew he wouldn't. And so she moved to walk past him, but he took a step to the side to stop her.

"Everything is fine now. Just the way it is. I don't want to mess that up." he said and Katie lifted her eyes to him for a moment before turning away.

"Uh, I totally forgot-" he looked back to him. "I have an appointment with Nick today and he wanted me to invite you to the session. I guess to see how you think everything is going here with us. It's later this afternoon-" she shook her head. "If you're busy-"

"I'll be there." Oliver said placing a hand on her waist. "I will be there." Katie gave a slight smile before turning and leaving the room.

Ari found it hard to focus today. If she had to guess why she would contribute it to a couple of things. Her birthday was just days away, and it would be the first birthday she would spend without her parents. Then there was the whole vigilante in training and how much darker she realized it all was than what she thought. And on top of all of that, there was the big stupid "C" at the top of her history paper that had been mocking her all day.

Sweat was beading off of the teen as she punched the dummy in front of her. She'd gotten out of school early and thought she'd come to the hide out to blow off some steam.

Felicity walked into the hideout, coming to a stop the moment she saw Ari in the distance punching the dummy. Ari didn't stop or even acknowledge that anyone else was in the room. Felicity took a couple of steps closer still watching the girl and even she was a bit amazed by how badass the teen looked.

"Remind me to never challenge you to a fist fight." Felicity said and Ari suddenly stopped and looked over to her.

"When did you get here?"

"Just now." Ari let out a sigh as she pulled off her gloves. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm cool." Ari walked over to the small refrigerator in the corner and grabbed a bottle of water. "Where is everyone?"

"I think Curtis and Rory are on their way, and I have no idea where Rene and Evelyn are." Felicity replied watching Ari closely. The girl looked over to her with a quirked brow.

"Why are you staring?" Felicity walked over to her.

"You know if all of this is too much and you want to step back-"

"Why would I want to do that?" Ari asked and Felicity shook her head. "If this is about yesterday, I told you I was fine."

"You did, but it doesn't mean I believe you. Look I get that seeing Oliver as someone other than just your Guardian-"

"I know he's more than that." Ari dropped her eyes. "I guess I just didn't know what that really meant." Ari shook her head as she looked back over to Felicity. "He threatened to kill that man and it looked like he might." Ari frowned slightly turning away from the woman. "I just thought-"

"What?"

"This-" Ari looked around the room. "All of this. What we're doing, what we're trying to do-" she turned back to Felicity. "It's to be the opposite of them. If we do what they do, then what makes us any different than them." they turned at the sound of voices to see Curtis and Rory. "I should get changed." Ari turned to hurry off and Felicity followed her with her eyes with one thought very clear. Arianna Locke was going to make one fine hero one day.

Oliver dropped his head as he listened to the weeping of the woman from his phone. It was the wife of Sam Conahan, an officer of Oliver's task force, brutally murdered in an alley.

"We're going to get justice for your husband. Trust me."

"I thought that was my job." Oliver turned at the voice of the man who'd walked into his office without an invite.

"Goodbye." Oliver said ending the call before looking up to the man. "I'm sorry, you are?"

"Pissed off. Royally!" the man snapped and Oliver took a deep breath.

"I'm getting that. What I don't understand is who you are and what you're doing in my office."

"Adrian Chase." the man said. "Your new-"

Oliver held out his hand realizing who the man was. "District Attorney. I'm sorry that we haven't met."

"I'm buried up to my eyeballs in motion practice and indictments with a staff who's barely made it past 3 rounds of budget cuts, so how about we save the pleasantries for the next fundraiser and get down to why I am so..."

"You're so pissed off." Oliver's phone vibrated and he looked down to see the reminder he'd set for himself. He needed to leave for the session with Katie and Nick. He looked back up to the man who he hoped would get to a point quick. Oliver wasn't expecting said point was that a drug dealer he was hoping to flip being murdered. Adrian put the blame on a vigilante.

"That doesn't sound like the Green Arrow." Oliver said.

"Not him. Some idiot in a hockey mask."

Oliver had to drop his eyes and had to stop his initial reaction. Maybe he heard him wrong.

"I'm sorry," Oliver looked back over to the man. "Did you say Hockey Mask?"


	10. Shadow of the Truth

**Chapter 10**

**Shadow of the Truth**

" _Denial. It's the only thing that keeps most of us from losing our sanity."_

_-Heena Rathore P_

* * *

Oliver was livid. The moment Adrian left, Oliver headed straight to the hideout.

The rest of the team stood off to the side as they watched Oliver's verbal thrashing on Rene. Apparently Rene and Evelyn went off on their own to find out more about Stardust. They found themselves in a factory where Rene ended up killing drug dealer Sampson.

Ari watched the entire thing slightly frowning. Oliver seemed upset that Rene had killed a guy the district attorney was hoping to use to get to the supplier. Not that Rene actually killed a man. This only brought back up those questions that scared the crap out of her. Was Rene really in a situation, that he had to kill someone to survive? Was she prepared to be in such a situation?

"Last week you said you needed to be able to trust me, fine!" Oliver glared at Rene. "Well I need to be able to trust you. If I can't then why am I wasting my time with you?" Oliver's phone vibrated in his pocket. He turned away pulling it from his pocket, cursing under his breath to see another reminder for the session he was currently late for. With a huff, Oliver stormed out.

The others turned to Rene, who was still clearly angry that Oliver couldn't see his intentions with what he did.

"Never in my entire life would I think that I would meet somebody more stubborn than him," Felicity shook her head before heading over to the computer.

Rene shook his head before looking up to see Ari staring at him and he just shook his head.

"You got something to say, pip squeak, because if not you should look somewhere else."

Ari shook her head. "You know when you walked in here, I never would've guessed that you killed someone."

"Like I said I had no other choice. Plus the asshole was a drug dealing piece of shit! How I see it he got what he deserved." Ari frowned slightly turning away.

"Aww, did that hurt your feelings?" Evelyn taunted and Ari turned a glare to her. "You don't honestly think this job can be done without casualties do you? At some point, it's your life or the bad guy." Evelyn walked over to her. "You either accept that, or run back into that big, safe house of yours." Ari just scoffed before turning and stalking for the door.

"Ari?" Felicity stood to her feet to see the teen hurry off.

"I'm fine." Ari waved off, never stopping her stride. Felicity glanced back to the others who just shook their heads before dispersing.

Oliver rushed off the elevator, stopping at the receptionist's desk.

"Hi, my name is Oliver Queen. I-"

"Dr. Adams is expecting you Mr. Queen. You can head on back." the woman replied and Oliver let out sigh of relief before walking around the office and down the hall to Nick's door. Oliver knocked first and Nick spoke from the other side for him to come in.

Oliver walked inside of the office, stopping and looking around. The only person in the office was Nick who sat behind his desk.

"She left, didn't she?" Oliver sighed pulling out his phone with a shake of his head. "I told her I would be here, and then I'm late and now she's probably upset."

"Hey Oliver-" Nick stood to his feet and walked around his desk. "Katie wasn't here." Oliver looked over to the man confused and the look on his face let Nick know what was happening. "She didn't tell you about this, did she?"

"About what? She said you wanted me to join her for one of her sessions to see how I felt everything was going. I assumed she would be here."

"Oliver, Katie scheduled this session for just you." Nick replied and Oliver looked over to the man with more confusion.

"Why would she-" Oliver shook his head before turning back to Nick. "Look I don't know what this is about, but I will talk to her and-" Oliver turned to leave.

"Oliver wait, " Nick said and Oliver let out a sigh before turning back to the man. "I get you don't want to be here, fine, but maybe you should first ask why she would think you should." Oliver turned away, his thoughts traveling to the conversation they'd had this morning. Oliver closed his eyes and slid a hand over his face. "Look there's still a few minutes left of this session if you just want to talk." Oliver looked back over to Nick for a moment. He wondered what Katie saw in him that would make her think that he needed therapy. "Seriously, we can just talk." Nick pointed to the couch, and Oliver looked over to it. He really wanted to run out of this office. There was so much more he needed to be doing right now, and sitting on a couch and talking about his feelings wasn't one of them. But then his mind travels to the moment he would tell Katie that he didn't even give it chance. He was the one who suggested she talk with Nick and it would look completely hypocritical of him to not take the advice he gave her.

"Fine," Oliver walked over and took a seat on the couch, while Nick walked over to sit in the chair across from him. The two men sat in silence for a few moments. "You know I assumed there would be more talking."

"That's usually how it goes." Nick chuckles. "So how about I ask the question again. Why do you think Katie scheduled this session for you?"

"I don't know." Oliver lied as he let out a huff before sitting back in his seat. "That's a lie." he turned back to Nick. "She doesn't understand."

"Understand what?"

Oliver dropped his face in his palms and let out another deep breath. There were just some things he kept locked away, glad to pretend they just didn't exist.

"She was gone." Oliver whispered, lifting his eyes back to Nick. "She was dead." Oliver frowned because the words would never seem real to him. "She was dead and I was here. I had to keep our daughter safe, and I had to keep Ari safe. Me."

"So I'm understanding this right, you weren't aware of your wife's involvement with the police and her faking her death?" Oliver frowned turning away at the veiled lie he'd fed the city. It was a shadow of the truth.

"No, I didn't." Oliver sighed looking back over to the doctor.

"So for weeks, you were just like the rest of the world thinking Katherine Queen was murdered?" Nick asked and he saw the tension in Oliver's jaw at the statement. "That had to be difficult. You were home, with your kids thinking your wife was dead, when all along it was a trick." Oliver let out a breath through his nose before standing to his feet. This is what he was afraid of. Talking about the past always brought back emotions he didn't want to feel any more.

"I can't do this." Oliver said and Nick stood as well. "I will talk to Katie and explain that I'm fine and that I don't need—" he shook his head. "Whatever this is. I'm fine. I have my wife back. My daughter has her mother, and Ari has her cousin. My family is fine." Oliver stalked for the door.

"And how much of that do you believe?" Nick asked. Oliver stopped and glanced back over to the man. "Oliver, I get it's tough. Your wife pretended to be dead, came back and then was in an accident that left her in a coma for months. That's more time you had to take care of your family alone."

"I wasn't alone. I had help. I had my sister."

"Yeah, but I'm sure you would've preferred Katie be there. That was the plan. You get married. You have kids and you build this life together. But then she broke the plan and left you alone."

"That's not—" Oliver shook his head. "It wasn't her fault. Damien Darhk hurt her and he took her away from me. But that doesn't matter because she's back."

"Yeah, she's back and she doesn't remember any of the pain or anger she left behind, but you do. You can't pretend as if it didn't happen." that was the second time he'd been accused of avoiding their past.

"I'm not pretending. I know it happened, but I'm choosing to no longer live in the past. Right now I have a wife who needs me, kids to take care of and a city to run. I don't have time to dwell on the past."

"I don't think you can dwell on a past you never faced and I don't think you can truly and happily live in the present when you're pretending that door to the past is closed when it really isn't." Oliver didn't say anything. The doctor's words were true and yet he couldn't find it in himself to admit it. "Just think about it." Oliver nods before finally leaving.

Katie stared up to the pale ceiling of the hospital before lifting her phone. There were still no calls or messages from Oliver. At this point his session with Nick should be over and that's if he even showed up. She's just a bit unsure of what his reaction would be to the whole set up. There was a knock at the door and Katie sat up to see Dr. James walk in with a smile.

"I told you there was no need for the doom and gloom. Your scans came back clean." Christian nudged his head for her to come over to the viewing light where he plucked on the x-ray of her brain. This was a scheduled check up of her brain to ensure her amnesia really wasn't due to some sort of cranial damage. She didn't tell anyone about the appointment because she was afraid their nervousness would spill out on her. Every appointment she'd been to with Oliver, he always looked terrified until they were told that everything was fine. "Your brain looks fine. So I have to agree with the original diagnosis. Your memory loss is more than likely psychological." Katie let out a sigh before turning and heading over to grab her bag. "Why do I feel like that's not the answer you were hoping for?"

"Because it isn't." she replies looking back to him. "If it was mass, or some sort of melanoma that could be removed that would be perfect." Christian looked over to her with a furrowed brow. "You know what I mean. If it was something tangible that could be fixed, but it's not tangible. It's emotions and blah, blah, blah."

"Yeah, well just stick with the blah, blah, blah and I'm sure you will remember more." Christian flicked off the viewing light and placed the scan back in the folder. "Plus you know these things take time."

"Yeah, I also know that it's possible I may never remember who I was." Katie says, and Christian turns back to her.

"Also true, but you don't have to be the person you were. You can be the person you are now. I mean you're not that bad." Katie chuckled.

" _Code violet!"_ spoke a voice over the overhead speaker. " _Code violet. All patients and staff are ordered to stay in their rooms."_ Christian's pager went off and he glanced down.

"Shit. My patient is coding." he says before turning to Katie. "I have to go, but that code means someone dangerous is here. I want you to stay in this room until they give the all clear." Katie simply nodded before watching the man rush out of the room.

The moment he was gone, Katie eased over to the door, cracking it open. Staying and hiding when someone dangerous was out there just didn't seem like an option, and so when she saw that the coast was clear she headed out into the hall. She looked around, everyone running around and closing themselves in rooms. She heard running and turned to see security guard hurrying toward her and so she moved out of the way. She overheard that there was a combative patient down by the morgue.

"Oliver is so gonna yell at me later." she mutters to herself before heading off to the stairwell and hurrying down. The morgue was only a couple of flights down, and she heard the commotion the moment she reached the basement door. She cautiously pulled open the door in time to see a guard tossed down the hall. Another guard quickly hurried over to help him to his feet.

"Get out of here!" a modulated voice ordered. A voice Katie recognized instantly. She pulled opened the door just as the guards ran back down the hall away from them. When she turned, she saw the Green Arrow staring down to a shirtless man at the other end of the hall.

"Derek Sampson, you have failed this city!" and with those words, he quickly grabbed an arrow, placing it against his bow and shooting the man in the chest that pinned him to the wall.

The man didn't even react to the arrow in his chest as he steps forward letting the arrow pull through his chest. Katie watches with a furrowed brow, because that arrow definitely should've hurt way more than this guy was letting on. It was like he didn't even feel it. Soon a fight erupted between the two men, and Katie watches as Oliver's hits don't even slow the man down, but his hits seem to be slowing Oliver down. The fight landed them against the fire alarm and soon the hallways filled with a thick white extinguishing vapors that don't seem to be slowing down the fight. It's when shirtless guy pins Oliver to the wall by the neck does Katie finally decides to intervene. Without a second thought, Katie runs down the hall, and in one swift move, she flips up, and hooking her leg around the shirtless guy's neck and slamming him to the floor. She slides away and stands to her feet, but he grabs her foot and pulls her back down to the floor with a thud. Katie flips over, trying to pull herself free, but he's strong. Katie grabs a blade that she has tucked away in the harness strapped underneath her shirt, but suddenly there's a spark above them. The distraction, causes the man to loosen her foot and once he does, she quickly pulls away and jumps to her feet and into Oliver's arms as they both hurry out of there.

They exit out a door to the back of the hospital where Oliver's bike is parked. Oliver slid on and turned to Katie.

"Get on!"

"We can't just let him go!" she said turning back to the hospital.

"We also can't fight him without knowing how to beat him. We will, just not now. Get on the bike!" Katie growled in annoyance before climbing onto the bike, and wrapping her arms around his middle before they sped off.

Katie got the cliff notes version of what that whole thing was about on the ride to the hideout. Apparently shirtless guy was some drug dealer they thought Rene had killed.

When they pulled up to the hide out, Oliver stepped off of the bike and turned to Katie who slid off.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, the man himself clearly in pain and yet his pain didn't matter right now.

"I'm fine, but you're clearly not." she shook her head. "Why wasn't the team with you?" Oliver groaned before stalking away from her. "Hey, don't walk away from me!" she followed behind him inside. "We talked about this. We keep talking about this. You going out there by yourself is dangerous," she looked up as they walked in to see the others who all turned to them. She shook her head before turning back to Oliver. "What would've happened if I wasn't there?" Oliver stopped and turned back to her.

"You know I've been doing this for a while without you, so I'm pretty sure I would've been fine." the moment the words came out of his mouth, he instantly regretted them. She turned away and he felt guilty. "That's not-" she turned to see that eyes were still on them and she suddenly just wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. She let out a deep sigh before turning back to Oliver.

"Ok," she said entirely way to calm. She reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone. "I'm just going to go home then and you can just do what you want." she dialed the number for a cab as she stalked out of the hideout. Oliver stood there knowing he should go after her, knowing he should apologize and yet a part of him felt relieved to say words that had been scratching against his skin. He needed to get his emotions in check before he had another conversation with her and so he turned and walked over to Felicity.

"I need to find this guy before he hurts someone else." Oliver says and Felicity looks at him for a moment wanting to say so much about things she knows she has no place to say. She wants to slap him in the back of the head and tell him to go after his wife. But she relents, figuring she would take a step back and not try to steer her Twiver Ship with hope they would get back on course. And if they didn't well then, she was prepared to meddle the hell out of that relationship until her friends were happy again.

"I'm tapped into all satellites and C-C feeds." Felicity says turning back to the computer. "What happened?"

"Physiology changed." Oliver says with a shake of his head. "Enhanced strength, and I don't think he can feel pain."

"Felicity thinks it's from exposure to whatever chemicals were in the vat that Rene dumped him into." Evelyn said.

"Any way to reverse it?" Oliver asked turning back to Felicity.

"I could run some tests, but it would take time, and I'd rather keep my eye on the "find Sampson before he hurts anybody else" ball."

"Well, good thing I was a biochemistry major in college. I'll get on it." Curtis says glancing over to Ari who looked over Oliver with a furrowed brow. She turned to him with a questioning look.

"And I'll hack into the hospital's records, see what they found." Ari says before looking over to Oliver whose phone beeped.

"Text me as soon as you have anything. We can't let the cops get to him first." Oliver turned to leave, but Rene stood to block him.

"I want to help, too." Rene said.

"I think you've done enough."

"I'm sorry about before, but I get it now. I'll do whatever you need."

"What I need is to trust that when I do ask for your help, you're not immediately going to make the problem worse."

"He said he was sorry. Let us help." Rory added and Oliver turned to him and shook his head.

"Yeah. We could canvass the city." Evelyn added.

"After what happened the last time you went looking for Sampson? Pass." Oliver said.

"Because your run in with the guy was a huge success." Ari said and Oliver turned his dark glare to her. "You needed help the last time you fought him and you're gonna need help the next time too." Oliver didn't say anything before shaking his head just leaving. Ari let out a huff before running after him.

"That guy's a real piece of work." Rene said. "Here we are, willing to help and all he can do is spew his self-righteous crap." he shook his head. "But I guess now the verbal abuse isn't directed at just us. He seems like a bang up husband."

"Hey!" it was Felicity who decided to speak up. "You can be upset with Oliver because he won't let you help him, but you will not talk about his marriage."

"So can we safely assume that Mrs. Queen is aware her husband is the Green Arrow, and knows about all of this?" Evelyn said and they all turned to her. "I'm sorry, that was the first time she'd ever come here and we didn't even get an introduction."

Ari pushed through the backdoor to see Oliver heading for his bike.

"You're really making me chase you?" she asked and the man stopped and turned to her.

"I don't have anything else to say." Oliver replied. "Go back inside and help the others." he turned.

"Felicity didn't call her to the hospital. " Ari said and Oliver stopped and turned back to her. "Neither did I. We were both curious how Katie just suddenly popped up just in time to save your ass." Oliver looked back over to the girl in confusion. "Did you even ask why she was wearing a hospital bracelet?"

"She wasn't-" Oliver shook his head because he doesn't even remember seeing a hospital bracelet.

"You didn't even notice, did you?" Ari shook her head before pulling her phone from her pocket. "Forget it, I will call her, you just keep being a jerk." with that Ari turned and headed back inside and Oliver stood there feeling even more guilty.

Katie walked into the house with a sigh as she pulled off her jacket. She looked up with a smile to see Thea coming down the stairs.

"Sorry, I was gone longer than I anticipated."

"No worries, just left me more time to think about how I'm going to explain to Oliver how I'm tanking his entire mayoral career with my stupid decisions."

"How did it go with the reporter?"

"I thought it went well, but I got wind that she's going to be posting a story that Oliver didn't even know about me picking Quentin for Deputy mayor. She's going to make it seem as if he's not the one making decisions at City Hall." Thea shook her head. "I'm going to fix this and when I do I'm going to resign."

"Resign? Because some idiot with a mic and a camera doesn't think you made the right choice."

"That idiot gets to people in this city with that mic and camera, and that hurts Oliver and causes him to lose supporters. I made this problem, I have to find a way to clean it up." Thea let out a sigh before glancing toward the steps. "Robyn has been fed and bathe, and is now out like a light."

"You are a super-aunt."

"Well if it's one thing I'm glad to be good at, it's that little girl's aunt." Thea headed for the door. "I should head to city hall to give Oliver a heads up."

"Hey Speedy," Katie says, and Thea smiles before turning to the woman. "Trust yourself. No matter what other people think, no matter what your brother tells you, just trust yourself. If you stand behind this decision, then you don't let anyone knock you down. You're going to figure this out. Now, this reporter, should I have a word with her?"

"No, really, I got it. Thanks though."

"Ok, well let me know if I need to beat someone up for you, because I totally will, with no hesitation." Katie said and Thea laughed.

"That's good to know." Thea said, her eyes suddenly noticing the hospital band on her wrist and she pointed to it. "Were you at the hospital?" Katie looked down to the wrist band and sighed.

"Yeah, I had a check up." she looked back over to Thea. "Everything came back good. I'm totally healthy."

"Well that's great. Ok, I should go." Thea grabbed her jacket and was off.

Oliver was probably being a coward. At the moment, he should be at home, apologizing to his wife for saying something that wasn't true. And yet he'd gotten a message from his new DA Adrian Chase.

"I want to start with a search of his last known address, but Judge Pittson won't sign the search warrant on Sampson's prior residence." Oliver glanced over to the man, coming back to the conversation at hand.

Oliver stopped and turned to Chase. "Pittson. I helped Pittson get elected."

"Which is why I'm talking to you. Could you lean on her?" Oliver gave a nod at the request.

"Absolutely. All hands on deck."

"Thank you. Hey, you-you probably don't remember this, but we actually met 12 years ago. You tried to pick up my girlfriend." Chase said.

Oliver lightly chuckled as did the man, "I did a lot of things back then that I'm not especially proud of, but I'm sure she ended up with the better man."

"Hell, no. She went home with you." Chase said with a shake of his head. "It's ok. I don't hold grudges. Plus I have better chances now since you're off the market. How is the missus, these days? I've been reading about her work with the new clinic, and even a possibility of her heading back to RI."

Oliver chuckled dropping his head at the mention of Katie. It was yet another sign that he really shouldn't be here at the moment.

"She's fine. She's taking everything one day at a time."

"I guess it has to be tough on you too. I mean your wife waking up without any memory of your life together. I don't know if I'd be able to do it."

"Yeah well, it is tough, but I'd take a million tough days with her than any days without her." Oliver glanced down to his watch. "I actually should be getting home." they turned at footsteps to see Thea heading over.

"Right, well thanks again." Chase says turning back to Oliver. "Let me know when you've talked to Pittson. I appreciate it."

"Of course." Oliver gave the man as he left. Once he was gone, he turned to Thea whose expression answered his unasked question about how it went with the reporter. As he feared, things had only gotten worse. Thea showed him the current story the reporter had shot, telling the city how he knew nothing about Quentin being named his deputy mayor. Honestly he didn't, but it wasn't an image he wanted portrayed to the public.

"Ok, look, I am going to issue a statement taking full responsibility for this, ok?" Thea says turning off the video and looking back to her brother. "And then I am going to offer you my letter of resignation." That was the last thing Oliver wanted.

"Thea- No,"

"Ollie, look, you said it yourself. I made this mess. I'm going to go clean it up." She stood there for a moment before turning and stalking away.

Oliver let out a heavy sigh because this day and the crap thrown at him seemed never ending. He only knew of one thing that he just had to fix.

When Oliver pulled up to the house, he stepped out of his car to see a nervous teenage pizza delivery guy standing in front of Steve.

"Well I wasn't notified that you were coming." Steve said.

"Sir, we get the orders and I deliver them, I don't know what you want me to say." the young man replied. Steve looked up as Oliver walked up to the door and the young man turned with wide eyes.

"You're the Mayor." he said and Oliver chuckled as he reached into his pocket for his wallet.

"I am, but it's late and you're standing on my porch holding a pizza. Call me Oliver." Oliver pulled out a couple of bills he's sure is way more than what the pizza costs and handed it to the kid. "Keep the change."

"Thanks!" the teen said, handing the pizza to Oliver before hurrying back to his car.

Oliver turned back to Steve and sighed. "You know I don't think the pizza guy is that big of a threat."

"Just being cautious, sir. As you ordered." Steve said, his tone held a slight annoyance before he nudged his head. "I should get back to my post." he didn't wait for Oliver to say anything before he was stalking off. Oliver watched the man in confusion. It was an out of character interaction with Steve, but Oliver just chalked it off to the man just having an off day.

When Oliver stepped inside of the house, he noted how quite it was before hearing quiet laughter coming from the kitchen. Oliver walked into the kitchen to see Katie sitting alone at the table that was covered with pictures, wearing a pair of pajama shorts with an over-sized t-shirt. She turned to him, the smile on her face dropping.

"Uh, I caught the delivery guy. I saved him from an interrogation from Steve." Oliver said turning back to Katie who didn't say anything before she turned back to the pictures. Oliver let out a sigh, turning from her to the pictures. He walked over, glancing down to realize he'd never seen these pictures before. He picked one up, smiling at the sight of a short red headed little girl posing on a small pony. "Is this Ari?" he looked over the rest of the pictures to see more of the girl and in some he spotted pictures of Jeremy and Heather.

Oliver took a seat in the chair beside Katie, looking over the pictures, and seeing the little girl and it hits him. Ari had only been with them for a few months, but it didn't feel that way. It feels as if she's been there a lot longer. Apart of their family. The truth was that she'd had years of memories that didn't include being with them. He picked up another picture that showed the girl slightly older, wearing a red and black lady bug costume with a smile so wide he could see she was missing a few teeth. The pictures only reminded him of his doubts of bringing her on the team. He was afraid she'd lose the innocence he could see in all of these pictures. He looked over to Katie who smiled as she sifted through the pictures.

"Twinkie, we should talk."

"I don't want to talk." she replied not even looking over to him.

"Ok, then just listen." he watched as she continued focusing on the pictures. "What I said to you, it was the furthest thing from the truth. I appreciate all the help you give me." Katie let out a sigh before turning to him.

"That's just it Oliver, it was the truth. For months I wasn't there and you didn't have a team, so it was just you, having to do it all and you did." she shrugged. "So maybe if I didn't show up tonight to help you, you probably would've gotten out of the situation just fine on your own." Oliver didn't say anything for a moment, and then he dropped his eyes from hers. "Do you want to know why I tricked you into seeing Nick?" Oliver looked back up to her. "Because I was hoping something like today would happen. Not as aggressive, but a moment when you would tell me something real, something that you have been holding onto. Oliver, I just feel like you're holding onto a lot and because you're trying to protect me, you won't share it with me. I was hoping you'd share it with him." Oliver once again dropped his eyes.

"It wasn't true. You were gone and the team was gone, and I made it work, but I wasn't alright." he looked back over to Katie who reached over and placed her hand on his. "I spent everyday ignoring the anger and the sadness. My friends, my family, abandoning me, and then you-" he lifted his eyes and she could see the brush of emotion in his stare. Oliver doubted these words. Doubted letting them out into the air and into reality where he would have to finally face them. "You didn't wake up. You were lying there in that coma and you didn't fight to come back to us when we needed you."

"I'm sorry," Katie says and Oliver looks over to her with a shake of his head.

"Don't. I know it's irrational to be upset with you when it wasn't your fault. You didn't choose to be in a coma. You didn't choose to not be with us."

"Yeah, but semantics doesn't make it better." Katie let out a sigh. "The truth is Oliver, I can't give you back the months I was gone, no matter how much I desperately wish I could. What I can give you is today, and every day after. For months you did this on your own, and you made it work." she reached forward and placed a hand on his cheek. "But I'm back, and you have a new team...no matter how inexperienced they are. You no longer have to do this on your own." Oliver leaned forward, bringing his lips to hers. "So scale of one to ten, how much pain are you in right now?" Oliver groaned because the mere mention of his aches seemed to make them worse. Katie chuckled before standing to her feet. "Take off your jacket and your shirt." Oliver stood to his feet without argument and removed his jacket and shirt with a slight hiss as he did. "Yikes," Katie muttered as she looked over some of the dark bruises along his arms and chest.

"It looks worse than it feels." Oliver said and Katie glanced up to him with a shake of her head before gently sliding her hands along his arms and stomach. She dropped her hands and let out a deep breath.

"I'm going to get you a cold pack." she turned to walk off, but Oliver grabbed her arm.

"Hey, I'm fine." he tries to reassure her and she gives him a nod before she hurries over to grab a cold pack from the freezer.

"Here, press this against whatever hurts the most." she says and Oliver chuckles before taking the cold pack against this arm as he takes a seat. "I'll get you something for the pain." Oliver watches as she disappears out of the kitchen for a few moments before coming back. She filled up a glass with water, and brought it over to him with two pills. "This will hopefully help." Oliver swallowed the pills washed them down with water as Katie sat back down beside him. "You totally lucked out marrying a doctor." Oliver turned to her with a smile.

"You know you never told me why you were at the hospital today." Oliver said and Katie sighed, turning back to the pictures on the table. "Ari said you were wearing a hospital bracelet."

"I thought I hid it well." she said looking over to Oliver. "You missed it." he looked at her for a moment and she figured she'd just come clean. "I set up an appointment with Dr. James. I wanted him to run another panel of neuro scans. They all came back clean." she turned away back to the pictures.

"Why didn't you tell me? I would've been there."

"I know, I just-" she shook her head as she turned back to him. "You're always so nervous at these appointments and I never understand why. This appointment was just me weeding out that little hope that my memories could come back the quick and easy way with brain surgery. I guess I'm stuck with digging in my psyche to understand whatever this traumatic event in my life was."

"You know you don't have to do this alone." Oliver said and Katie smiled.

"Yeah, I know, but I think I realizing that while I'm seeking out this three headed beast that is my past, you seem to be running away from it. You can't help me fight my monster until you fight yours and I'm alright with that. I just have to stop putting so much pressure on myself and just let it happen when it happens." with that Katie stood to her feet and flipped open the pizza box and snagging a slice before taking a bite. "How much time did you have? You should head upstairs and take the rest of your clothes off." the moment the words came out of her mouth, she realized how what she said and what she meant could've been misinterpreted. She turned to Oliver who looked over to her with a quirked brow and a smile and she just chuckled. He stood to his feet and tossed the cold pack aside before walking over to her. "I meant to check you over. Make sure you're not internally bleeding or something." the smile on his face only told her that he was no longer listening. "You're like a walking bruise, how can you even think about...that right now."

"Well Mrs. Queen, it usually doesn't matter what state I'm in when it comes to one or both of us without clothes. My mind always goes there." his hands slipped around her waist and she sighed as she dropped her slice of pizza back in the box. "I will figure out my issues, and I will help you." Katie placed a hand on his cheek, as his lips leaned in to capture hers in a kiss. Soon his sore muscles, and pained limbs were but a faraway thought as he tightened his grasp around her, deepening the kiss. He should've expected the moment, she pulled away with a gasp. She tugged herself from his arms and walked around the counter to place some distance between them. Oliver let out a sigh before looking over to the woman. "I'm sorry. I know you pull away because want to take things slow, and I get carried-"

"Wait, what?" Katie said, and Oliver looked over to the woman who stared over to him in confusion. "You think I pull away because I want to take things slow?" it was Oliver's turn to look confused. Katie turned away slightly before turning back to Oliver. "That's not it." she let out a sigh. "That's definitely not it." she walked over and grabbed her pizza before turning back to Oliver who she knew wanted her to say more. "How about I check you out later, and now you just go up and take a hot shower." without another word, the woman turned about to walk out of the kitchen, but quick feet behind her caught up to her. Oliver wrapped an arm around her waist, hiking her up and planting her to sit on the counter in front of him. "You're really not going to let this go?"

"I'm really not." he replied, hands still around her waist. Katie turned away from his eyes and he could tell that she was thinking about something. "Tell me." she turned back to him and smiled before sliding her arms around his neck. "Why do you pull away?"

"Because if I don't pull away, then, I won't stop." she saw the look in his eyes and had to once again turn away.

"And why would that be a problem, Mrs. Queen?" his voice thick with lust and Katie bit her bottom lip to stop herself from totally slipping underneath his spell. She turned back to look at him for a moment, his eyes and intentions very clear.

"Well, Mr. Queen, If I don't stop then you wouldn't be able to keep me quiet. And I don't think I would want you to." she replied, her voice dropping an octave, causing a twitch in a part of his anatomy that would definitely love to hear more. "And with the kids, and City Hall calling for their Mayor at various times, with your sister who has moved out, but still swings by unexpectedly, and then there's the whole villain of the week who can only be stopped by you." her hand slid through the back of his hair as she stared into his eyes. "If I didn't stop, then I'd turn a blind eye to it all and steal you from the world and not give you back until I was finished with you." Oliver's hand slid down, grasping her hips and pulling her toward him, eliminating the space between their bodies.

"Once again I ask, why would that be a problem?" with the question, his lips descended on her neck and a moaned gasp escaped her lips. Katie's eyes drifted closed as Oliver's hands slid along her bare legs. His hands were drifting higher and she knew the point of no return was coming and she wasn't going to stop it. That didn't mean something else wouldn't stop it.

Oliver's phone rang, and the shrill sound cut through the kitchen successfully killing the mood. Katie pulled back breathlessly as she stared back to Oliver.

"You have to answer that?"

"No I don't." he replied before his lips fell back to the nape of her neck and she couldn't help but laugh at his refusal to acknowledge the reality of this moment. "The person on the other end of that phone doesn't know how long I've waited for this."

"There is some crazy, super strong bad guy out there whose probably-" her words were stolen by a moan the moment his hand somehow found it's way to a very particular part of her body that hadn't been touched in a while. Soon the ringing phone became white noise as the sounds of their moans, and gasps filled the kitchen. In one swift movement, Oliver lifted Katie from the counter, her legs wrapping around his waist as their lips never part. He only takes a a single step for the stairs before the sound of the doorbell decided to sufficiently kill the mood. That was followed by the wailing of their daughter from upstairs. Katie pulled back with a sigh as she looked down to Oliver. "And this is why I pull away." Katie tugged herself from Oliver's grasp, bringing her feet to the floor.

"We are going to have this moment." Oliver promised, placing a kiss to Katie's lips. The doorbell rang again and Oliver pulled back with a groan.

"Well until we do, why don't you see who's at the door, and I will go check on the baby." Katie sighed, before rushing upstairs.

Oliver shook his head before going over to pull on his shirt, fastening a few buttons as he goes to the door. He pulls it open to see Steve who is standing with a phone pressed to his ear.

"Oh, here he it." Steve said before holding the phone to Oliver. "It's Ms. Smoak. She called me after not getting an answer when she called you." Oliver looked down to the phone in annoyance before taking it and bringing it to his ear.

There was a break-in. Apparently the assailant was shot by the security guards and shrugged off the bullets like they were nothing. It was Sampson. After getting the details from Felicity, Oliver went upstairs where he found Katie lowering a sleeping Robyn back in her crib. Katie looked over her shoulder to Oliver who stood at the door and she could tell he wasn't very happy from the look on his face. She walked out into the hall with him, closing the nursery as she did.

"We have a lead on Sampson." Oliver said and Katie looked up to the man and sighed. "I was going to change and-"

"Take your team." Katie says and Oliver let out a sigh.

"Rene and Evelyn-"

"They made a mistake, fine. It's still you who has to teach them how to make better choices." Katie placed her hands on Oliver's chest. "You're not going against some weird guy who can't feel pain alone. I don't like seeing you bruised and in pain. So it's time you start trusting your team, or I go in there and wake up Robyn again to take her to auntie Felicity so mommy can go make sure daddy doesn't die." Oliver let out a sigh. "Just so you're aware, you'd have a very bad experience with the second option."

"Figured as much." Oliver replied, placing a kiss to the woman's lips.

Ari was supposed to be finishing up her algebra homework, and yet her eyes were glued to the mugshot of Derek Sampson. Footsteps tore her from her thoughts and she turned in annoyance to Evelyn.

"Are you doing homework?" the girl asked looking down to Ari's book and notepad with a shake of her head. "This is just ridiculous. You have no business here." Ari didn't say anything as she grabbed her things and stuffed them back into her backpack. "This isn't some after school activity. This is serious stuff."

"Right, I mean I could be going off on half ass crack missions to drug dens and creating super-zombies with you and Rene." Ari brushed passed Evelyn, bumping the girl's shoulder.

"I'm not really in the mood pip squeak." Rene said glaring over to the girl. "You got something to say to me, then say it to my face."

"Hey, why don't we just calm down." Curtis moved to stand at the center of the three of them, hoping to squash the confrontation before it starts.

"No, because we're all not understanding how miss high school musical is even qualified to be here." Evelyn replied still glaring over to Ari.

"Is that a dig at my age, because we're only a couple of months apart."

"No, that was a dig at little miss rich girl getting bored of being a spoiled brat and wanting to play superhero with her Guardian."

"Aw, someone sounds jealous." Ari says taking a step toward the girl and Evelyn shook her head as she took a step of her own. "Look I could talk to my cousin, maybe convince her to adopt you, will you stop being a bitch then?" Evelyn went for another step, but Curtis moved to block her way.

"Being here doesn't change who you are you know." Evelyn said. "You'll always be the daughter of psychotic, greedy, murdering parents. Being here doesn't change the fact that you're going to end up like one of them. Either in jail or dead."

"Hey!" it was Felicity's voice that cut through the room and everyone turned to her. "Everyone to their corners." Evelyn turned to Ari with a smirk before turning and going to the other side of the hideout.

Curtis turned to Ari who stood, her fists clenched at her sides and her chest heaving. "Hey," he placed a hand on her shoulder and she just pushed him away.

"I'm fine." she turned and stalked away. Felicity went to check on her, but Ari looked over and shook her head. "I said I'm fine." Felicity, looked over to Curtis who let out a sigh before she stalked over to Evelyn who was throwing jabs at the punching dummy. She stopped when Felicity walked over.

"Look what I said was probably out of line and-"

"Right now, I talk and you listen." Felicity says moving to stand in front of the girl. "I don't know what this is, why you have a problem with Ari but I really don't care. Whatever it is, you're going to get over it. "

"She doesn't belong here." Evelyn muttered with a shake of her head as she folded her arms over her chest.

"And why doesn't she?"

"She's some rich kid whose still in high school." Rene chimed in walking over to them. "She's had some silver spoon in her mouth her entire life. She has no idea what it takes to be here."

"And you do?" Felicity asked looking between them. "You know I thought the reason Oliver didn't take you out with him was because you didn't know what it takes to be here either." Felicity shook her head. "Being apart of a team does not mean striking out on your own because you want to prove you're right-" she turned to Evelyn. "And it doesn't mean tearing down the person who watches your back." Felicity let out a sigh. "Oliver chose Ari to be here, just like he chose each of you. None of you would be here if he didn't think you should. That includes her." Felicity turned back to Evelyn. "You should spend less time antagonizing her and more time getting to know her."

They all turned when Oliver walked in. Felicity looked back to Evelyn who simply gave the woman a nod.

Ari had spent so much time trying to convince Oliver to let her join his team, she never thought she'd spend so much time trying to get away from them. Not long after she arrived at the hideout did she discover the place she be using more often. The roof of the hideout practically overlooked the entire city. Ari found herself up here more often than none when she needed to get away.

She let out a sigh when she heard the roof's door open. "I said I'm fine."

"I think that's the phrase of the day," Ari turned to see Oliver who walked over to her. "Ari-"

"No, just-" she shook her head before turning back to the city. "Just leave it." Oliver looked over to her for a moment.

"Sampson-"

"He's building a whole army of zombie assholes." Ari says turning back to Oliver. "That vat was filled with Stardust so we figured he's trying to share the wealth."

"Well if Sampson's building his army, then I'm going to need mine." Oliver said and Ari turned back to him with a quirked brow. She was actually one of few on the team not hounding Oliver about being out there in the field. It was the fact that the more she saw, the more unprepared she felt.

"You're joking?" she shook her head. "You know your team is crap, right?" Oliver let out a chuckled sigh. No one would ever say that Arianna Locke didn't speak her mind.

"You know I've seen the work each one of you has been putting in and I guess I was hesitant to take the training wheels off, but you're all ready." Ari turned away and looked back out to the city. "You don't agree?"

"You should go." Ari says, not looking back to him. "Sampson is the priority right now." Oliver stood there in a moment he thought he'd actually be relieved about and yet he's not. "I'm not-" she shook her head. "They're right, I don't belong here." she looked back to Oliver. "You were right. I thought I understood what being here meant, and I didn't. At least I realized it before it was too late. I'm just going to go home." she moved around to the door.

"You know I've been trying to figure out how to have this conversation with you." Oliver says and Ari sighs, stopping and turning back to him. "After the shake down and you saw me as the Green Arrow and you saw a version of me I never planned on sharing with you."

"Look, I told you I got it. You have to go to a dark place to wear that mask." Ari replied.

"Yeah, I do, but that doesn't mean it's right and it doesn't mean its wrong." Oliver says walking over to the girl. "Ari, what made the old team work so well is the fact that we all brought something different to the team. Something I'm sure will happen with this one. Ari I want to teach you, but I don't want you to emulate me." he looked down to her eyes, to the innocence he would always be afraid she'd lose. "You can wear light behind that mask and make an even greater difference in this city. You're ready for this." Oliver looked at her for a few moments before taking a deep breath. "Now go suit up." Ari looked at him for a moment before shaking her head.

"You're such a dork." she sighed turning and heading back downstairs. Oliver looked up to the sky and sent a silent prayer, hoping he was doing the right thing.

When Ari returned back to the hideout everyone was gone except Felicity who watched as she headed over to her backpack and began pulling out clothes.

"What are you doing?" Felicity asked and Ari looked over to the blonde.

"Suiting up, apparently." Ari muttered grabbing her clothes. Oliver walked back in looking between the two.

"Yeah, but that's not your suit." Felicity replied before walking off. Ari looked over to Oliver who just shrugged before the blonde returned with a big white box. "This is a gift from Bruce." Oliver lowly groaned but walked over with Ari as Felicity sat the box on the table. There was a card that Ari picked up and flipped open.

" _Give them hell kid. -BW"_

Ari looked back down to the box before pulling it open, her eyes going wide at the sight of the suit inside. She picked it up, the material like nothing she'd ever felt before.

"It's made from the same material as the Bat-suit." Felicity said, watching as Oliver reached forward to feel it as well. "Kevlar biweave, reinforced joints, bullet proof, tear resistant, and a lot more stuff. He was way too into the features for this suit." Felicity chuckled. "What you need to know is that it will take a lot to hurt you in it." Ari turned the suit around, now able to see the symbol in the center. "And since he got the suit, he sort of decided he got hero naming rights." Ari looked over to Felicity before turning back to the symbol which was a yellow and orange flame. "Fire Light." Felicity held out a comlink to Ari. "You should get dressed." she looked over to Oliver who continued watching the girl. "Both of you." Oliver turned to Felicity and nodded.

"Tell the old man I said thanks." Ari said over to Felicity before gathering the suit and hurrying off to get changed.

"And tell the old man, we need to talk." Oliver said over to Felicity who quirked a brow. "It's time to face truth. It's the only way we can move forward, and how I will truly help my wife." Felicity smiled and gave the man a nod before he too went to get changed.

It was extremely late as the team stood on the roof of the building adjacent to the warehouse currently being filled with police officers and EMTs. Ari stood, her chest still heaving as the adrenaline still coursed through her veins. She thought she was gonna chicken out. And yet the moment Oliver told them to move in, she took a deep breath and she stopped thinking about fear. Sampson's goons weren't that tough, and she took down a couple with no problem at all. Curtis set up the explosives, and she was supposed to get out, and yet she ran over in time to see Oliver slicing cuts on Sampson's tendons immobilizing the man. She wanted to see what he did after. Sampson was down, no longer able to fight. It didn't stop the bastard from taunting Oliver about his men he thought were still standing. Oliver simply told the man that his team had taken care of it before walking away as the explosives began going off.

A hand touched Ari's shoulder bringing her back to the present and when she turned, she realized everyone was gone except Oliver.

"You alright?" he asked and she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"I think so." she replied before turning and the pair began walking toward the ladder. "You know, I kind of kicked ass back there." she looked over to Oliver who just chuckled. "You should maybe watch your job, BM, because I'm coming for it." they both heard Felicity's laughter as they climbed down.

The next day Oliver decided to pull off yet another band-aide. Trusting this new team meant bringing them completely in the fold. He stood slightly nervous as he rode the elevator down to the bunker, the team along with him.

When the doors finally opened, Felicity was there standing with a smile as they all filed off.

"Alright everyone, just breathe normally," Curtis says as everyone looks around. "I know it's a lot to take in."

"He fainted the first time he saw it. "Felicity said and Curtis turned a pointed finger to her.

"I had the flu!" he said before following after the others. "I had the flu, yall." Oliver walked in and watched as the team seemed to gravitate to the display of the old team's suits. He looked over to Felicity and let out a sigh before he heard the familiar small laugh of his daughter. With a furrowed brow he began looking around and so did the others who didn't expect to hear a baby in their hero bunker.

"Good girl, say it again," Katie walked over, her eyes going up now realizing the others were here. "Oh, hey, you're here." Oliver smiled as he walked over to them, Robyn's arms shooting out to him as she called his name, and the moment he was close, he didn't hesitate to pull her into his arms.

"Did she say apple again?" Oliver asked to Katie.

"I think that's what she said." Katie replied with a shrug before turning to the group of eyes on them. Oliver looked over to the team and turned.

"Everyone, I don't think you've all been formally introduced." Oliver said looking over to Katie with a smile. "This is my wife. Katherine Queen. You can call her Twi-"

"Katie," Katie says nudging the man who only laughed. "You can call me Katie." she glanced over her shoulder. "And that little bundle of cuteness is our daughter Robyn." she turned back to the team with a smile before she got a bit closer. "And I know who each and everyone of you are. Rene, Evelyn, Rory-" she turned. "Curtis, and light of my life slash bane of my existence." Ari rolled her eyes.

"She's also the Guardian." Ari said proudly as she looked over her shoulder to the Guardian's suit. The others looked back as well before turning in surprise back to Katie.

"Wait, so you're actually a vigilante too?" Evelyn asked and Katie turned to her and shrugged.

"That's up for debate." Katie replied not seeing the nods from Felicity and Oliver behind her. "I just wanted to congratulate you all on your successful mission and your efforts in taking down Derek Sampson." she looked between their faces with a smile. "You got one bad guy off the streets and you made this city that much safer." she stood there for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Now that I got that out of the way, I wanted to share a lesson of my own."

"What is she doing?" Oliver whispered over to Felicity and the blonde looked over to him in amusement.

"Oh, you're about to see."

"I want you to look to the person next to you." she watched as they confusingly turned to the person next to them. "Now I want you to look over there at Oliver." they all did as they're told and look over to Oliver who looks just as confused. "Now look back at me." their eyes turned back to her. "The person standing next to you, hell everyone in this room, it is now your responsibility to make sure you do everything in your power to make sure they come home when the mission is over." she saw the slight nervous looks. "Lot of pressure, right?" she took a step to the side. "Well I'm going to need anyone who can't handle that pressure to get back on that elevator and leave." she waited, silence filled the room, but no one moved. "Alright," she walked back to her place in front of them. "Not too long ago some of you were alone, fighting this fight without any help. That has changed. Everyone in this room now has your back. I have your back. That means I will use every resource I have to make sure you all are alright. I just ask that you all do your best the make sure your team comes home, and try your damnedest to make sure that man back there makes it home to me and my daughter." the woman smiled as she looked between the team. "I'm trusting him with you." she looked over to Ari. "I'm trusting Fire Light with you too." she turned back to the others. "You won't see this smile if you break that trust." a nervous silence filled the space between them and so Katie clapped her hands. "Alright, veiled threats over, I have to go." she walked over to shake all of their hands. "I look forward to working with you all." she stopped, the smile falling when she took Rory's hand.

"Are you alright?" Rory asks.

"Oh no." Felicity mutters and Oliver turns handing Robyn to her before hurrying over to Katie's side.

"Twinkie, what's wrong?" he asks, but she doesn't say anything as she continues staring at Rory. "Twinkie-" she just smiles before releasing his hand.

"Sorry, I have a meeting. It was nice meeting you." she glanced over to Oliver. "Felicity's watching Robyn." he doesn't say anything as he watches her go over to place a kiss to Robyn's cheek before grabbing her bag and heading over to the elevator. Oliver quickly runs over to catch her, stopping the doors before they could close.

"What just happened?" he asks and Katie looked over to him with a slight frown.

"I don't know. I just had this sudden feeling of sadness when I shook Rory's hand." she shook her head. "I felt the need to apologize for something, I just don't why." she turned back to Oliver, that look passing over his face that tells her he knows something. He doesn't say anything and she lets out a sigh before taking a step back. "I really have to go." Oliver just nods before letting go of the door and allowing it to close. He turns, looking over to the concerned look on Felicity's face and he can't help but share it.

Katie felt slightly nervous as she sat in Michael's office. She arrived about an hour or so earlier for her meeting with the board of directors, and Annabelle who didn't look too happy to see her again. Katie really didn't care. What she cared about was getting the New Beginning's Initiative back on track. So she presented the facts, showed them the figures. She wanted to convince them that this Greater Beginning's Initiative wasn't so great and was actually hurting the company, and would continue hurting the company. Annabelle had her own figures, presenting the profit growth that has come out of the change. Katie countered with that profit standing to be less and less as more businesses drop out of the program. She suggested reinstating the New Beginning's Initiative back to it's original stipulations as created by her and Ray. Now she was just waiting for them to make a decision. She looked around the office when she saw a familiar picture hanging up on the wall. She walked over chuckling at the old picture of her and Michael at that stupid costume party and their terrible Sonny and Cher costumes.

The door opened and in walked Michael, a glum look on his face and Katie's shoulders dropped.

"They shot me down?" Katie asked and Michael looked over to her before a wide smile took over his face.

"Actually it was a unanimous vote in favor of reinstating NBI." Michael said and Katie smiled widely as the man brought his arms around her in a hug. "You did it, Sweets!" the hug was lasting longer than necessary and Katie had to pull herself free and punched the man. "Sorry, I'm excited. But you did it."

"If they voted with me, what took so long?"

"Oh," Michael laughed. "Ms. Grey had a complete melt down before storming out of there. It's only a matter of time before we make the decision to bring someone else in." he turned to the woman with a smile and twitchy eyes brows and Katie just shook her head.

"I told you I can't." she replied grabbing her bag. "But I'm happy they're fixing this." she headed for the door.

"You're going to be named in the press release." Michael said and Katie stopped and turned to him. "It went out before I came in here. Another idea I pitched and everyone agreed. Bringing NBI back was your idea, and we want the city to know it. Expect a lot of people to fall in love with you all over again, Sweets." Katie sighed with a roll of her eyes before stepping out of the office.

Katie stepped on the elevator, looking down to her phone. She still had enough time to head over to city Hall to catch the tail end of Oliver's press conference. She didn't look up when the elevator doors opened and someone stepped in. After a few moments, she did feel eyes on her and so she looked up.

"Oh, Ms. Grey, hi, I didn't see you there."

"Well I don't find that too surprising." Annabelle said turning back to the doors. Katie looked at the woman forcing herself not to feed into it and so she just dropped her eyes back down to her phone. "You know it's my company, right?" Katie frowned looking back over to the woman. "I am the CEO."

"I am aware." Katie replies unsure what the point was.

"Good." Annabelle turns so she's standing in front of Katie, a move Katie believes is meant to be intimidating. Katie slipped her phone into her bag as she stood tall looking back to the woman. "I just want to make sure we're both very clear about what belongs to who."

"That's so strange coming from the woman who inappropriately touched my husband." Katie replies feeling that anger rise in her chest. This wasn't supposed to be happening. She promised herself that she would be the bigger person and let it go, and yet Annabelle seemed to have a death wish. "I'm not trying to take your company. I'm just making suggestions that the board seems to agree with." Katie shrugged. "I guess they like my ideas better than yours." she saw the blonde's jaw clench.

"You know I see you." Annabelle lets her eyes trail over the woman. "I see exactly who you are. And it's not this wholesome doctor, Mayor's wife routine the city seems to be feeding into. One day they'll see it and I'll be the one there to say I told you so."

"This person you think I am. Someone who's not sweet and wholesome...does she seem like someone you should corner on an elevator?" Katie took a step closer still eyeing the woman. "Because I have to tell you, I don't think she is. Actually I think she is the last person you should try to threaten and intimidate." The doors to the elevator opened. "Because she might surprise you, and push your skinny ass in the hole you're digging for her." with that, Katie moved around the woman off the elevator. "Always a pleasure Ms. Grey."

Katie rushed into the doors of City Hall, digging through her bag for her visitors pass. When she found it, she held it up for the guard who let her in. When she stepped off of the elevator, she heard Oliver's voice further down the hall. As she neared, she noticed someone standing outside of the door Oliver's voice was coming from. She moved around the man who looked up to her with a smile.

"Mr. Lance, waiting for your introduction?" Katie asked and the man let out a nervous sigh before giving a nod. "Don't worry, you're going to do fine." she turned listening slightly. "I should probably wait to go in there." she turned back to Quentin who was staring at her. "Something on your mind?"

"No, it's just-" he shook his head before turning back to her. "It still seems kind of surreal to see you around here. You were gone for so long and it didn't seem like you were going to come back." she looked at the man for a moment and smiled. "I'm glad you're back. You have no idea how much this place needs you."

"I'm not so sure it's me this place needs." she muttered and he looked over to her in confusion. "Sorry, no idea why I just said that out loud."

"Well I wouldn't sell yourself short there, doc." Quentin said and Katie chuckled. "You brought a light back to this city that only you have."

"The buck, as they say, stops with me, because when you are in charge, everything that your team does is on you, and I trust my team." Oliver's voice filters out of the room once again. "That team will include former police captain Quentin Lance..."

"That's my cue." Quentin says and Katie gives him a pat on the shoulder as he steps into the conference room. Katie slightly steps inside, but not too far.

"...who will be serving beside me as Deputy Mayor." Oliver continues shaking Quentin's hand. Katie smiles over to the pair when Oliver glances over and finally spots her. She just points down the hall toward his office, a silent message of where she will meet him once he's done. He gives her a nod before turning back to the press.

Katie steps back in the hall and heads toward Oliver's office unable to get Quentin's words out of her head.

"A light that only you have." she muttered to herself unsure why the words seemed to tug on something inside of her.

Katie was so distracted with her thoughts that she didn't notice the light panel above her flicker.

Or the one after that...or the one after that.


	11. Stepping Up

**Chapter 11**

**Stepping Up**

" _Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others. "_

_Virginia Wolf_

* * *

Arianna Locke opened her eyes this morning expecting to feel different. Well she was a bit sore from the previous night's mission. They got a lead of one of Church's cronies. It was yet a teachable moment Oliver had in place for all of them and of course Rene did the opposite of the plan leaving Oliver to step in and finish the job with an arrow to the perp's leg. The whole thing put Oliver in a mood, and he left them there with the expectation that they deliver the bad guy, and his mysterious brief case from Kord industries, to the Anti-Crime Unit.

But that was yesterday. Today though was her sixteenth birthday. She expected to feel older...maybe wiser, and yet she felt the same as she did the day before. She laid in bed for a moment, looking up to her ceiling wondering if maybe there was just a delay in that feeling. She gave up hope after a while and finally stood from her bed. She walked over to the mirror and looked over herself figuring maybe the change was more physical. She turned a bit, sliding a hand over her stomach and looking at her butt and it was all still the same. She frowned slightly when she heard sounds outside of her door, and when she turned there was a knock before the door opened and in came Katie, and Oliver who held Robyn in his arms all wearing birthday hats while blowing noise makers.

"Good you're awake." Katie says with a smile as she looks over to the girl. She turned to Oliver and gave a nod before they turned back to Ari.

"Do not sing!" Ari said suddenly and they turned back to her in confusion. "I've heard both of you sing and I don't think my ears could handle it." Ari says walking over to them. "Why are you busting in my room?"

"Because it's your birthday, you sour puss." Katie replied reaching over and messing with the girl's wild curls before she's shooed away. "We were going to annoy you as much as you annoy us because that's how much we love you."

"Ha ha," Ari says looking over to Oliver who stood there looking at her not saying a word. "What's with you?" Oliver still didn't say anything before he shook his head and left the room. Ari quirked a brow and turned back to Katie. "What was that?"

"Do worry about it. Oliver is having issues of his own today. He'll get over it." Katie says with a smile. "So are you ready for your first birthday present?" a smile pulled at Ari's lips. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands." The teen did as she was told, hoping a pair of car keys were about to be dropped in her hands. She frowned at the feel of paper. "Ok open." Ari opened her eyes to see a folded letter. She looked over to Katie who lightly laughed. "Read it." Ari unfolded the letter and began skimming it.

"I'm not getting expelled?" Ari asked looking back over to Katie.

"Nope. You're going to continue the after school tutoring twice a week for the rest of the month, but that's the extent of your punishment. I talked to Principal Harris and he says he talked to some other students who witnessed what happened and even though he doesn't agree with how you handled the situation he and the rest of the school board see the entire altercation was instigated by Brandon. I guess Brandon will have his own punishment soon."

"What about his parents?"

"No idea, but I'm hoping the fact that I helped Mr. Burns with getting a new job will make them more susceptible to the whole thing." Katie shrugged. "Alright, get cleaned up. Oliver's making you birthday waffles."

"What's the difference between the regular waffles he makes?"

"Sprinkles!" Katie says laughing as she leaves the girl's room.

When Katie walked into the kitchen, she smiled over to Robyn who was sitting in her child seat watching her father who moved about the kitchen.

"So do you want to talk about what just happened?" Katie asked and Oliver glanced over to her for a moment before going to the refrigerator and grabbing some milk.

"There's nothing to talk about." he said and Katie shook her head with a smile before walking over and stopping him. "I'm fine."

"You're not." Katie says looking up to his eyes. "She's just turning sixteen, she's not moving out."

"No yet." he muttered as he pulled away to continue making the waffles. "I remember when I turned sixteen. I had a car, and I hung out with my friends and I was never home. I barely saw my parents." Katie watched him in a slight amusement. She really didn't expect him to react to Ari's birthday like this.

"You do know she's apart of your super secret hero team, so you'll see her a lot more than I will." Oliver looked over his shoulder to the woman. "She's not going to abandon you. " Oliver hadn't said the words, but he knows that's what he was feeling. For the months that Katie was gone it really was just him, Robyn and Ari. Thea was there, but her focus was mostly on City Hall. Ari was his saving grace. She was here, she helped out, poked fun at him and made him laugh when he didn't want to laugh. In those months, her place in his heart was cemented even more. No blood was shared between them, but she was like his daughter. Oliver let his back fall against the counter as he looked over this wife.

"Why can't she just stay the same age forever?" Oliver says and Katie walked over and brought her arms around him in a hug.

"Because then she'll be telling us how lame and corny we are for the rest of our lives." Katie says making Oliver laugh before pulling back. "She's not going anywhere anytime soon."

They turned at the sound of the front door opening and closing. "Anyone awake?!" came Thea's voice.

"That would probably do it if we were asleep." Oliver says turning as the door to the kitchen opened and in walked his sister. "Thea how many times do I have to tell you to not come in the house screaming."

"It wasn't screaming Ollie, I was just talking loud enough for everyone to hear me." Thea walked over to Robyn who laughed as her aunt picked her up in her arms. "Are you going to say Thea today. Theee-Yuh." Robyn just continued to play with Thea's shirt.

"She'll probably say it when you're not around," Oliver said and Katie laughed at him.

"Oliver taught her the word apple, and she said it once for him but now she only says it when he's not around." Katie says walking around Oliver to grab a mug for coffee.

"Seriously? she says it all the time with me." Thea said and Oliver looked over to her with a slight frown that made her laugh a bit. "So where's Ari, I so can not wait for this birthday girl's day. I have everything planned." Ari's birthday celebration would be split up between the next couple of days and ending on Sunday with the party. Today was a girl's day out with a spa day, hair and nails, tomorrow Ari would be taking her road test for her license followed by shopping and then Sunday would be the party. Oliver turned to Thea and she looked over to him with a furrowed brow. "What?"

"No, I'm interested. Where are you going?" he asked and Thea looked a bit surprised in her brother interest. She turned to Katie who sighed.

"He heard me talking to you yesterday and when the words "makeover" and "Ari" came out of my mouth, I had a riot act waiting for me when I hung up with you."

"That's because she doesn't need a makeover." Oliver began and Katie just shook her head. "There's nothing wrong with the way she looks." he turned to his sister. "She's fine the way she is."

"If you haven't guessed, Oliver is having some serious issues today with Ari's birthday and her getting older. " Katie says taking a sip of her coffee. "I even explained that it was Ari's idea to change up her look."

"I just don't see why no one told her that there wasn't anything wrong with the way she looks now." Oliver said before turning and continuing with making the waffles.

Thea looked over to Katie, and mouthed a "Wow," as Katie just shook her head.

They turned at the sound of the front door once again opening and closing.

"Is everyone awake and properly dressed?!" Came Felicity's voice.

"Why does everyone yell when they come in our house?" Oliver asked looking over to the kitchen door as Felicity entered the kitchen.

"Ooh, something smells good." Felicity says pulling off her jacket. She walked over to place a kiss to Robyn's cheek. Before going to grab a cup for coffee. She stopped when she saw Oliver staring at her. "What did I do?"

"The yelling, Felicity. You don't have to yell when you come in here." Oliver says with a shake of his head. "Actually, why do you two no longer ring the door bell?"

"Because we have keys." Thea said as if it were obvious.

"Yeah, those keys are for emergencies, not so you two can just walk in whenever you feel like it."

"Someone's in a mood this morning." Felicity muttered as she went to get her coffee.

Ari heard the sound of doorbell as she came downstairs. "I got it!" she called as she pulled open the door, a frown instantly taking over her face at the sight of Evelyn. "Ugh, what are you doing here?"

"I was invited." Evelyn said slipping inside of the house without an invitation. Ari let out a huff as she closed the door and turned to see the girl walking further inside letting her eyes scan around. "I expected bigger."

"Seriously, what are you doing here?" Ari asked and Evelyn turned back to her.

"I told you I was invited to this whole girl's day out birthday thing for you." Evelyn let out a snort as she shook her head.

"Who the hell would invite you?" Ari asked and Evelyn smiled.

"Felicity," the girl said before she smelled food from the kitchen and went to check it out without another word. Ari let out a groan before stomping inside of the kitchen. She was immediately bombarded with a birthday cheer.

"Happy birthday!" the frown on Ari's face still in place.

"What's wrong?" Katie asked and Ari just looked over to her before turning to Evelyn who was comfortably grabbing a waffle without a care in a word.

"That's my birthday waffle!" Ari snapped before walking over and taking the waffle off the girl's plate and stalking back upstairs.

Everyone in the kitchen stood unsure what just happened.

"And you were afraid she was growing up too fast." Katie says looking over to Oliver who was not amused.

"I will talk to her." Oliver said before grabbing her actual birthday waffle which was topped with whipped cream, and sprinkles and headed upstairs.

Katie turned to Evelyn who simply went to grab another waffle before heading over to sit at the kitchen table.

"I thought it was a good idea for them to get to know each other better." Felicity whispered over to Katie who just continued looking over to the girl.

"I'm going to see how they're doing." Katie says before heading upstairs as well.

"What's the deal between her and Ari?" Thea whispered over to Felicity who shrugged.

"No idea, but Ari has been clashing with Evelyn and Rene since she joined the team." Felicity said with a shake of head. "At first I thought it was because they didn't think she could actually do this, but she's shown them that she can." Felicity looked over to Evelyn. "I just figured since Ari and Evelyn are the same age they could somehow find some common interests."

"Doesn't seem to be working out that well." Thea said and Felicity turned a glare her way before reaching out to take Robyn. "Oh no you don't!" Thea moved away. "Robyn, tell fake auntie Felicity to wait her turn."

"I told you to stop calling me that!"

Katie arrived upstairs just as Oliver was stepping out of Ari's room and closing the door.

"How did that go?" Katie asked as Oliver turned to her.

"Not great." Oliver replied as they moved away from Ari's door to the bedroom. "I knew they weren't getting along, but I didn't know it was that bad."

"So am I kicking Evelyn out or..."Oliver turned to her and she just laughed. "Sorry, but it's Ari's birthday and if she doesn't want to spend it with the mean girl then she doesn't have to."

"No, she agreed to give it a shot. I told her that these people aren't just her team when they're wearing that mask. They have to be more than that."

"From your lips to the stubborn ears of our cousin." Katie sighed as Oliver brought an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to her. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," he replied as his lips fell to the crook of her neck.

"This nothing seems like a whole lot of something that can't happen with all the people in this house." Katie replies as her eyes fluttered closed as his lips moved to her shoulder. Oliver pulled back and sighed.

"I know, but I think I have a solution." he said and Katie quirked a brow.

"Really, and what's that?"

"It's a surprise." Oliver replied placing another kiss to her lips before heading out of the bedroom. Katie laughed with a shake of her head as she followed him.

"I hate you!" she called and he just laughed.

Soon all the women were gone leaving Oliver to clean up. Once he was finished he dried his hands and turned to his daughter who sat in her child seat playing with her stuffed rabbit.

"Can you believe I actually have the day off." Oliver said walking over and picking Robyn up in his arms. "And I get to spend it with you. So what do you want to do today?" the doorbell rang and Oliver turned with a furrowed brow. "Let's see who that is."

Oliver walked over and pulled open the door. He let out a sigh when he saw who it was."Bruce."

"I hear you wanted to talk to me." Bruce said before looking down to Robyn with a smile.

"I did, but I thought you would've at least called first." Oliver shook his head. Bruce looked back up to the man and shrugged. Oliver took a step back to allow Bruce inside, but the man didn't move.

"I'm not alone. Apparently I'm not capable of having this conversation with you alone because apparently I won't say the right things." Bruce said with a shake of his head. "Constantine, Zatanna and Diana are in the car." Oliver looked over to Bruce's car as the window came down and Constantine waved a hand. He turned back to Bruce before slamming the door in his face. Bruce just laughed because he knew that was going to happen. He turned back to his car. "Exactly what I said would happen." the door behind him opened once again and when he turned Oliver was standing there, this time without Robyn in his arms.

"I'm pretty sure I may hurt someone with this conversation and I didn't want my daughter to witness it." with that Oliver turned and walked off leaving the door open.

A pin could drop in the Queen dining room at the moment and they all would hear it. Oliver had to check on Robyn who was not liking being left in her crib alone.

"Why doesn't he bring the child down here?" Diana asked suddenly and they glanced over to her.

"Because he doesn't trust the people in this room who all tried to kill his wife a few months ago." Bruce replied before standing to his feet and moving around the room. "I told you I should've come alone."

"You've talked to him multiple times and they've ended with him threatening to kill you." Zatanna sighed getting inpatient with waiting. She looked around the room with a frown. "Where is Constantine? No one takes that long to use the restroom?" they all shared a look when they realized their British friend was probably up to something.

Oliver had successfully distracted his daughter with the spinning mobile and the music it played. He eased out of the room knowing it probably wouldn't last for long. He was about to head downstairs when the sound of something down the hall caught his attention. Oliver turned and headed toward the bedroom where he didn't expect to see Constantine lying in their bed, his eyes closed.

"What the hell are you doing?" Oliver asked and Constantine held up a finger, signally he needed a minute. "You have five seconds and then I'm going to hurt you."

"A person's residual energy stays in places that person spends a lot of their time." Constantine opened his eyes. "I can feel her in this bed. You not so much." he looked over to the man. "You two still not sleeping in the same bed?"

"In what world would that be any of your business?" Oliver asked. "Get the hell out our bed, now!" Constantine let out a huff before standing to his feet.

"Fine, if you're curious, I didn't get any sense of dark energy here."

"Like I've said hundreds of times before, it's gone. The blade worked, it removed the dark entity."

"If you believe that, then why are we here?"

"You're here to make sure what I feel in my heart is true so you all can stop hounding me and leave my city," Oliver took a step to the side. "Out." Constantine simply nodded before walking out of the bedroom. Oliver let out a sigh before looking over to the bed he hadn't slept in since his wife's return. They'd agreed that if they slept in the same bed they wouldn't be able to stop themselves, and they'd more than likely ignore the world outside of these walls. He was hoping his surprise would help them get over this obstacle.

Katie felt utterly ridiculous at the moment. Her face was covered in some weird goop with cucumbers over her eyelids as she, Felicity and Thea laid in some weird room with soft music playing from somewhere.

"It's been about ten minutes and we haven't heard anything. Maybe Ari and Evie are actually getting along." Felicity said and Katie let out a snort.

"Well I don't know about Evelyn, but I'm sure Ari's been trained to subdue someone without gaining any attention." Katie said as she let out sigh. "How long do we have to stay in here?"

"This is supposed to be relaxing." Thea said.

"Yeah, well I'm not relaxed and I just want to eat the cucumbers." Katie replied taking one of the cucumbers from her eyes and taking a bite.

"I guess someone else is in a mood." Felicity said. "What is going on with you and Oliver?"

"Nothing is going on," Katie took the other cucumber and ate it as well. "Nothing at all." Felicity pulled the cucumbers from her eyes and looked over to Katie.

"Wait, I get it." Felicity laughed a bit before laying back down. "You two haven't done the deed."

"Ugh, could this not be a topic right now." Thea groaned. "I would rather not know whether or not my brother is doing the deed. Plus there's no talking in the relaxation room." Felicity just laughed.

"Close your ears, Speedy." Felicity turned back to Katie. "I've seen the way you two have been looking at each other and the fact that you two haven't bow-chicka-wow wow, is totally surprising."

"Well there are a lot of other factors we have to take into consideration, and I really don't want to talk about it." Katie sighed, but Felicity just hummed in response.

"What other factors? I mean you both have the necessary parts to relieve your frustrations."

"And I'm out." Thea plucked the cucumbers from her eyes and sat up before glaring over to Felicity. "I seriously don't want to hear about my brother's necessary parts." with that, she tightened the towel around her body and stood to her feet. "I'm going to see if that mud bath is still available." Felicity let out a snort as Thea stalked away.

"What's going on?" Felicity asked again and Katie just shrugged before turning to Felicity.

"I don't know. I told him it was because the kids were there, but that was only part of the truth."

"What's the other part?"

Katie turned away, her eyes looking up to the skylight that allowed the sun to shine in. "What if it's different?" she looked over to Felicity. "For him, like he's done the deed with me before and I'm assuming it was enjoyable. What if this me—this version of me—is different."

"Yeah, I'm going to circle back to my original answer that you both have the necessary parts to relieve your frustrations." Felicity said. "Don't overthink it. I'm sure it will be a pleasurable experience for both of you."

Katie groaned wanting to talk about something else. "Lets talk about the newbies. How are they doing?"

"Ok I guess. You know about the friction with Ari." Felicity sighed. " and then there's Rory and keeping the fact that-" Felicity caught herself before too much information slipped.

"Keeping the fact that, what?" Katie asked looking over to the blonde who suddenly stopped talking. Felicity turned her head to meet Katie's eyes and it was the look that made Katie let out a sigh. "You're not going to tell me. Which means there's something about it that connects to the past everyone is so afraid of me knowing."

"That's not it. It's just out of context it could be confusing. There's just a lot that you would need to know beforehand." Felicity said and Katie didn't say anything before she turned away. Without another word, Katie sat up and stood to her feet. "Katie, wait, don't-" Katie didn't wait and Felicity let out a sigh as she dropped back to lay down.

Evelyn let her eyes sweep across the rows of nail polish as she searched for the color she wanted. She glanced over her shoulder when she heard the quiet laughter of Ari. Ari was currently looking for a color of her own on the other side of the room, but she'd been distracted by something on her phone. Evelyn, curious, quietly walked over, peeking over Ari's shoulder to see what she was looking at. It was a picture of some boy dancing with a dog, the caption underneath reading, _"Getting ready for the party of the year, #HappyBdayLocke"_

"He's cute." Evelyn said and Ari quickly turned, bringing the phone to her chest. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but no he's not. He's just my friend." Ari rolled her eyes before plucking a bottle of nail polish from the wall and going over to the waiting area. Both girls were getting manicures and pedicures before their hair was styled. Ari just hated that they seemed to be on the same schedule and every time she looked over her shoulder there was Evelyn and that annoying face of hers.

"Who am I kidding, Oliver probably wouldn't even let you have a boyfriend." Evelyn walked over and took the seat across from Ari. Ari just ignored her as she looked down to her phone. "It has to suck though, right? Having to live with the woman who killed your father and who's responsible for your mother being in prison." Ari looked over to the girl with a furrowed brow.

"What is your problem with me?" Ari asked dropping her phone in her lap. "Like seriously, what is your actual problem with me as person? Have I somehow offended you in some way?"

"Your entire existence offends me." Evelyn replied. "The fact that you've been given everything you've ever wanted even though your parents were the scum of the earth. Just doesn't seem fair." Ari turned away and let out a long breath though her nose.

"You know I know you." Ari said turning back to Evelyn. "When I had you and Rene's names I dug up as much as I could about you. You were the class president, decathlon, gymnast. Of the both of you, I actually thought I would get along with you the most." Ari shook her head. "But then your parents died and you dropped off the face of the earth and became this miserable excuse for a human being blaming the world when it was really only one man."

"Well that's one opinion." Evelyn remarked before standing to her feet and taking a step toward Ari who stood to her feet as well. "But we should get one thing straight, you know nothing about me."

"It has to suck though, right?" Ari said with a tilt of her head. "We both lost our parents, but I had people who actually cared enough about me to take me in. I guess that's the part of my existence that really offends you." Ari shrugged. "Well I can't change that. So you can either keep being offended or get over it."

"We're ready for you Arianna." came the voice of the manicurist. Ari simply smiled before walking around Evelyn for her manicure.

Oliver stood at the head of the table, listening to Zatanna and Constantine go back and forth about the perfect way to decide if the entity could still be in his wife.

"You know I figured you all would actually have a plan in place before you came to me!" Oliver called over them to stop their bickering.

"We do, Zee just wants to take the safe approach that might not work."

"And John wants to take the dangerous route that has bit us in the ass before." Zatanna says turning back to Oliver. "Yes, we can travel back into your wife's consciousnesses again, poke around and risk being tricked again." she turned back to Constantine who was shaking his head.

"I see no problem with not going with that option." Oliver says turning to Constantine who turned to Zatanna.

"Yeah, but the alternative, a spell that says either yes or no doesn't really help her." Constantine turns to Oliver. "My way may help determine what's causing the memory loss."

Oliver looked between them both now seeing the reason for the back and forth. Both options accomplished the same thing, but with different levels of risk. It was just Constantine's option could recreate a past he wants to stay in the past, but it could also help bring back her memories.

The sound of the doorbell interrupted Oliver's thoughts and so he let out a sigh. "Are we expecting anymore people to this messed up brain trust?" he said as he moved around the table and headed down the hall for the door. Oliver pulled it open, actually surprised to see a face he hadn't see in a while. "Lyla?"

"Hi, we need to talk about John."

That got Oliver's attention. "Is he alright?"

"No. He's back in the country and he's in prison." Oliver's eyes widened in surprise. "I need you to break him out." Oliver didn't say anything as he took a step to the side to let her inside. Lyla followed behind Oliver, not expecting to find the group of people in the dining room. She looked at the faces she's seen numerous times in pictures or videos at ARGUS. "I didn't know you were busy."

"No, it's fine." Oliver turned to the others. "We're going to have to do this later."

"After you discuss breaking John out of prison." Diana said, and both Oliver and Lyla sighed forgetting the woman's super hearing.

"Right, you all can see yourselves out." Oliver said.

"Oliver," Zatanna stood to her feet and walked around to him. "We need to do this as soon as possible." Oliver looked at her for a moment and just gave a nod before they all...well almost all filtered out of the house. Oliver and Lyla turned to Bruce who didn't make any moves to leave.

"Bruce-"

"John is my friend too. If he needs help, then I'm in." Bruce replied and Oliver let out a sigh before turning to Lyla who gave a nod.

Katie was totally over this girl's day out. She really only stuck around for Ari. So she endured the day. Getting a manicure and a pedicure and even getting things waxed. She was currently sitting in the stylist chair after getting a hair cut she never knew she needed. She looked at herself in the mirror, her hair now just past a few inches past her shoulders in loose layered curls, fringed bangs covering her eye brows. The stylist had chosen the look after Katie told her to just surprise her. The woman was saying a bunch of words Katie didn't quite understand, but she heard blonde balayage which she figures is the now blonde streaks that are now blended in with her dark hair. Of all the pictures she has seen of herself, she's never seen the face looking back to her right now. This person was new. It was her and not some shadow of someone she use to be.

Katie was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of her ringing phone. She pulled it from her purse to see Oliver's number and quickly answered.

"What's wrong?" she immediately asked, and she heard him chuckled.

" _You know a 'hi Liver' is a better greeting."_ Oliver says and Katie couldn't help but smile.

"Hi Liver, what's up? You miss me already?"

" _Always_ ," Oliver replied, but then he let out a sigh.

"I don't like that sound."

" _We need to talk. Could you and Felicity meet me at the bunker?"_ Oliver asked and Katie frowned slightly.

"Now?" she asked glancing back to see Ari sitting under a dryer.

" _It's important and I need to talk to the both of you as soon as possible."_

"Ok, we're on our way." Katie ended the call, now completely nervous, but she grabbed her bag and went in search for Felicity.

It was tough to get out of that salon without Ari and Evelyn who both insisted that they should come in case this important meeting was vigilante related. Katie assured them both that Oliver didn't say it was and so they wouldn't assume. She wanted Ari to to continue her day of pampering and hopefully forming a better relationship with Evelyn.

As they rode the elevator, both Katie and Felicity stood nervously as they waited for the doors to open. Once they did, both women hurried out, their eyes darting around for Oliver. They didn't expect to find Oliver and Bruce together by one of the computers.

"Oh god, what's wrong?" Felicity asked hurrying over and both men turned to her before looking over to Katie. "You two are actually working together which means the world is probably ending."

"No, John is in prison." Oliver says. Felicity's eyes widen as she looks between Bruce and Oliver.

"Oh my gosh, how, why?" Felicity asks.

"He's being framed." they turned at the voice of Lyla who walks over, Robyn in her arms and it was the sight that rubbed Katie the wrong way.

"Why are you holding my daughter?" Katie rushed over, reaching forward and taking Robyn into her arms, looking her over before glaring up to the woman. "What are you doing here?" Oliver hurried over, bringing an arm around Katie to calm her down. He probably should've given a better heads up on the call. He has explained who Lyla is to them, how she's John's wife and their friend, but it was still one of those topics she was finding it hard to accept. "Will someone explain to me what is going on?" Katie turned to Oliver.

"Lyla, came to the house and told me what was going on with John." Oliver said and Katie nods. "She asked me for my help."

"Help with what? Does he need lawyers?" Oliver glanced over to Lyla and sighed before turning back to Katie.

"You're going to break him out of prison, aren't you?" Felicity said and they looked over to her. Katie looked from the woman back to Oliver who didn't immediately say no to the question. Oliver turned to Katie, and she realized he was waiting for her to react to what was apparently the truth. Katie turned away from his eyes before turning back to Lyla. "Wait, so you're going to break him out of a military prison? And then what? John is just a fugitive for the rest of his life."

"Better than being punished for something he didn't do." Lyla says over to the woman before turning back to Katie who hadn't said a word even though she's pretty sure the woman has a lot to say.

Without a word Katie walked over to Felicity. "Could you hold her for a sec?" Felicity saw the seriousness in her eyes and simply nodded before pulling Robyn into her arms. Katie turned to Oliver with a silent look before she turned and headed for the team's conference room.

"Is this going to be a problem?" Lyla asked over to Oliver who turned to her.

"Just give me a minute to talk to her." with those words, Oliver headed over to the conference room as well where Katie stood with her back to him.

"Uh-you cut your hair. It looks nice." it was an attempt to ease the mood, but he's not sure it would work.

"You should close the door." she said, still not turning and that made Oliver slightly nervous. He shook his head before turning and shutting the glass door.

Lyla looked over to the couple in the room and let out a sigh. "We don't have time for this?" she turned back to Felicity and Bruce.

"You're going to make time if you expect her to be ok with risking the life of her husband and the father of her daughter." Felicity said. Lyla glanced over to Bruce and Felicity followed her eyes. "What?"

"I was going to go as well." Bruce said and Felicity's eyes widened her mouth opening as if she were going to say something, but looked she looked down to the child in her arms and just swallowed the words. "Felicity-"

"Nuh uh," she shook her head before walking away from him.

Oliver waited for a moment, before he decided to be the one to start this conversation.

"John is my best friend...no he's like a brother and right now he needs my help." Oliver says, and Katie doesn't say anything or turn to face him. "He's being framed for something he didn't do and if I don't do something he's going to die there and never see his son or wife again." Katie let out a sigh before turning to Oliver.

"No," she said simply. "You're not doing this. I understand that he's important you and that you want to help him, but you have a wife and you have Robyn and Ari. Are you really going to do this with the risk that you could be taken from us?"

"I can do this. I will be careful, and I will come back to you."

"You didn't answer my question!" Katie slapped a palm to the table that separated them. "Why do we keep having this conversation Oliver? Why do I have to remind you that your life can't be this bargaining chip?"

"I can do this. I will be careful, and I will come back to you." Oliver repeated which Katie assumed meant what she said actually didn't matter. She slid a hand over her eyes and turned her back to him. "Look, John is our friend, he's family, and if you actually remembered him- remembered who he was to us- you wouldn't be fighting me on this. You would be helping me." Oliver knew the moment the words came out of his mouth , that he should not have said them. "Twinkie, that's not-I'm sorry."

"I don't remember John. I can't remember how we met or any conversations we've ever had." she turned back to Oliver. "I wish I did. I really wish I remembered a lot about my life, about who this person you think I would be if I did. It's just the me now, standing in front of you doesn't think that there would be a time where I would value your life less than someone else." Katie walked around the table to stand in front of Oliver. "The problem is that you do. You agreed to help break John out of a military prison knowing the risk you were taking. You know that the risks you take aren't just your risks, and you're ok with that." Oliver placed his hands on her shoulders, but she pushed him away.

"Twinkie, I can do this." Katie looked at him for a moment and realized he really wasn't seeing the entire picture. She needed to make him see it.

"I know you can you do this Oliver," she took a step closer to him. "But I'm not going to let you." she turned and walked out of the door, a confused Oliver following behind her as she walks over to Lyla. "I'm going to help you. Just me."

"No, that's absolutely not-" Oliver appeared at her side.

"Call Flag, tell him we're pulling another Belle Reeve." Katie says ignoring the protests of Oliver. Lyla looked at her for a moment before she turning to Oliver. "C'mon Lyla, I'm the soldier Waller always wanted and you can have me right now." Lyla turned back to her. "Call Flag. Tell him I need his help and he will be here." Without another word, Lyla glanced over to Oliver before pulling out her phone and stalking off.

"What do you think you're doing?" Oliver asked angrily appearing in front of Katie. "I'm not letting you do this."

"And why not?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest. "I can do this Liver. I will be careful, and I'll come back to you." Katie heard the whimpers come from Robyn and so she walked over to take the girl from Felicity.

Oliver let out a huff before walking over to Lyla just as she ended the call. "We're not doing this. She can't do this."

"You tell her that." Lyla replies before holding up her phone. "I called Flag, he answered, he's on his way."

"Rick is ARGUS and if's caught and you're tied into this-"

"Rick isn't ARGUS, Richard Flag currently doesn't exist for the work he's doing now." Lyla looked over to Katie who held her daughter to her chest. "Oliver I'm sorry, but right now I just want Johnny back, and I will take it anyway I can get it." Lyla walked over to Katie. "Flag will be here soon. What else will you need?" Katie glanced over to Oliver who looked completely upset, and it was a feeling she wanted him to have. She needed him to feel what she felt far too often.

"If you're doing this, then I'm coming with you." Oliver says walking over to them. Katie looked over to him, seeing that he was not handling the loss of control well.

"That's not going to work. In the event that you are caught and arrested, you'd face countless felony charges, and then there's the fact that you're the Mayor and this city actually looks up to you and I don't think that a felon for a mayor would really boost the city's morale."

"And you're risking just as much." Oliver said and Katie turned to him.

"Well I lost my memories, remember?" she said and Oliver glared. "If I get caught, I can chuck it off to some sort of psychotic break or something." she turned back to Lyla. "You have the schematics for the prison?" Lyla nodded before walking around to the computer and pulling them up. Katie walked over to Oliver and held out their daughter. He let out a sigh before taking her in his arms and watching as Katie walked over to Lyla.

Ari currently sat in the passenger side of Thea's car. Katie and Felicity never returned and they weren't answering any of her calls.

"I'm sure they're fine." Thea said looking over to Ari. "C'mon, this is your birthday relaxation day."

"Some painted nails and a new hair style isn't relaxing." Ari muttered, her eyes glancing over to the car's side mirror catching a glimpse of herself. Her once big, curly hair was not bone straight as it framed her face. The girl looking back at her definitely looked different. She even thought she looked less like a little kid. She rolled her eyes at the thought before looking out the window. "Where are we going anyway?"

"Well Katie was supposed to be taking you to your next surprise, but they're still busy so she asked me to do it." Thea replied. Ari looked over to the woman in confusion before she looked back outside, suddenly realizing she was familiar with this route. Soon her eyes saw Iron Heights in the distance. "She said it's been a while since you've seen your mom." Ari didn't say anything.

Her silence continued through they entire prison check in process. Soon she found herself sitting in a familiar room as she waits for her mother. The sound of the door buzzing causes Ari to turn just as the door opens. She stands to her feet as her mother comes in and it's this moment she realizes just how long it's been since she's seen her. Heather looks over to Ari with a smile as she pauses near the door so the guard can unlock her cuffs. As soon as she's unchained, she goes over to Ari and brings a hand to her mouth in shock.

"Look at you." Heather sighs. "You look so grown up." Heather brings her arms around Ari in a hug that Ari isn't quite sure how to respond to for a moment before she brings her arms around her as well. "It has been too long since I've seen. I can't believe they've been keeping you from me." Ari frowned pulling back to look up to her mother. "But that will all be fixed soon." she smiled down to Ari. "Come sit with me."

Oliver felt as if he were going to explode at any moment. He probably would have already if there wasn't a certain little human currently using his body as a jungle gym. He pulled Robyn from his shoulder back into his arms before he looked back over to where Katie and Lyla stood as they stared intently at the screen going over a plan. He stood there knowing absolutely one thing for certain. He was not letting her do this.

Lyla looked over to Katie's face as her eyes trailed over the schematics and she could see it. Well she always saw it. That thing Amanda Waller wanted for her agency. The brilliant mind of the doctor beside her.

"You're not actually doing this are you?" Lyla whispered over to her.

"Of course not, I still have a birthday party I have to make sure goes off without a hitch." Katie said her eyes never leaving the monitor. "Oliver needs to be taught a lesson." Lyla looked over her shoulder to where Oliver stood watching them. She knew at any moment he was going to make his feelings about this known once again. "I understand he cares about John, but that concern seems to be shielding him from the bigger picture. He's just so-"

"Self-sacrificing." Lyla says turning back to the screen. "Him and his friend John have a lot in common. Even those annoying habits we have found ourselves trying to save them from." Lyla looked back over to Katie. "Katie, I promise I will make sure they both get out of there." Katie finally turned her eyes from the screen to the woman standing beside her.

"You know I'm not sure how we became friends." Katie said with a slight frown. "Sure you were kind to me, but you've never been completely honest with me. You were Waller's puppet and I was the shiny trinket she wanted for some reason and you made sure she got it." Katie looked over to the angry eyes of her husband before turning back to Lyla. "Your promises mean nothing to me. There has only been one person with ARGUS who has ever come through on a promise."

"I will get an ETA on Flag." Lyla says before taking out her phone and stepping away.

When Lyla walked away, Oliver took this as his moment to once again try to talk some sense into his wife.

"Twinkie, you're not doing this." Oliver said, but Katie didn't say anything as she reached forward and expanded a part of the screen. "Twinkie, I'm not letting you risk your life doing this." she stopped and turned to look at the man. "I know what you're going to say, that I'm being hypocritical, and maybe you're right, but on this I am not bending. You're not doing this." Katie looked over to him without a word and what he thinks is amusement on her face. She simply turns away back to the monitor. "You were never going, were you?"

"Depended on the details of this plan and if I thought you really could handle it. "she replied. Oliver looked over to her for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Oliver you have a tendency to play fast and loose with your life."

"Twinkie-"

She turned back to him. "You do not accept any dangerous job before talking to me first. Because this is your friend, and you're emotionally connected to him means you don't think about the risks."

"Twinkie, I can-"

"Whether I remember John or not would not change how I feel about the value of your life." she looked down to her daughter who seemed to be amusing herself with the buttons on her father's shirt. She looked up to meet Oliver's eyes. "You can do this. With help, you will make it out of this." she turned back to look up to the monitor. "You can not risk your life as if it's only yours to risk." Oliver took a step forward, and dropped his head to hers.

"There is nothing that will keep me from coming back to you." Oliver whispered before he placed a kiss to her cheek. He turned to face the screen beside her. "I assume you've come up with a plan."

"One you will follow precisely." Katie says and Oliver looked over to the concentration on her face as she looked up to the monitor.

"Twinkie, about what I said, I'm sorry. Your emotions are not dependent on what you do and don't remember. I'm actually pretty sure you would've reacted the same way if you did remember." Katie didn't say anything and Oliver let out a sigh. "I will never make a decision like this without talking to you first." still nothing. "Do you forgive me?"

"No," she replied before turning and taking Robyn in her arms. "Lyla will go over the plan with you after she fills in Rick. I was surprising Ari by taking her to Iron Heights to visit her mother. I missed that chance and so Thea had to take her. I would like to be home when she gets back just to make sure she's alright." she moved around him to gather Robyn's things.

"Twinkie-"

"Ask me to forgive you when this is all done." she said stopping and looking back to him. "Ask her to forgive you too." she held up her daughter slightly. "For totally ditching the daddy/daughter day you were supposed to have with her." Oliver stood there and watched as Katie packed Robyn's things. Felicity walked over to her and the two spoke in hushed tones before they all stepped into the elevator.

Bruce walked over to stand beside Oliver and both men just watched as the doors of the elevator closed.

"So Felicity's not helping." Oliver says.

"Well she knows John doesn't even support this plan, and the fact that it's completely risky, I'm going to say no, she's not helping. I'm almost ninety five percent sure I'm sleeping on the couch when I get home."

"I'll be lucky if Twinkie lets me in the house when this is all done." Oliver sighs before both men turn back to the schematics on the screen. "I really hope John knows how much we love him."

Felicity just shook her head and she mumbles to herself.

"I can't believe they're doing this." she said looking over to Katie. "I can't believe you're letting Oliver do this."

"Well he wouldn't if I didn't have contingencies in place." Katie says looking down to her daughter in her arms.

"You're really betting a lot of Rick Flag." Felicity replied and Katie let out a snort.

"He's one of a few people I would bet on." they turned as the doors opened. "But I'm going to need more." she glanced over to Felicity. "Would you mind watching Robyn for a bit? I have to make a stop."

"How dangerous is this stop?"

"For me, not at all." they stepped off of the elevator. "For the person I'm meeting, well that's up in the air."

Ari glanced over to the clock once again and this time her mother noticed it. "Somewhere you need to be?"

Ari turned back to her and shook her head. "No, it's just getting late, and I don't want you to get in trouble for staying out too late."

"Well you won't have to worry about that." Heather said. "Your magically resurrected cousin has thrown her money around and pulled a few strings so we can stay here as long as we want." Ari slightly frowned. She hated this place and really wanted to leave. "But you don't want to stay here, do you?" Heather shook her head. "I knew the longer you stayed with them, they would poison you against me."

"Mom, they haven't done anything. I just-" Ari shook her head. "I don't like seeing you like this." Heather glanced down to the tan jumpsuit she wore and sighed.

"Hopefully I won't have to stay in here much longer." Heather looked back up to meet Ari's eyes. "And when I do get out of here, you and I can get back to our lives." Ari looked over to her mother unsure how to respond to that. She wonders if she was a bad person for not thinking about her mother being in here. For totally accepting this new life with Katie and Oliver and actually liking it. It was her life. "I just have to ensure there is no push back from that cousin of yours and her husband. I already have a plan though."

"What are you talking about, what plan?" Ari asked and Heather looked to her daughter for a moment and just shook her head.

"Don't worry yourself about it. Just know that I'm going to gather enough evidence against them that proves they're unfit so no judge in this city would not think of giving me custody back." Ari looked at her mother for a moment trying to determine if she were serious.

"Are you crazy? You can't do that. For one you could put them at risk of losing their daughter, and then there's the fact that you don't know that if anyone would give you custody. If you are released, you'll be a felon and they don't just give custody of kids to felons." Heather just shook her head.

"Is that what they told you. That I would never get out of here, that we could never be together again." Heather dropped her head as tears streamed down her face. She looked back up to Ari. "Nothing will keep me from my daughter. You're the only thing I have left in this world, and I will not let them take you away from me. I'll watch them burn before I let that happen." Heather stood to her feet and Ari felt helpless unsure how to fix this. Heather headed for the door and Ari only saw one option.

"Ok!" she called and Heather stopped and turned back to her. "If you stop whatever plans you have to hurt them, I will go back to you if you're released. Oliver told me that it would be my choice and I believe him." Heather looked over to her daughter with a smile. "They're good people mom, and if you hurt them you will lose me forever." Heather didn't say anything before she turned to the door.

"I'm ready." she spoke through the door. Ari watched as the guard opened the door, once again cuffing her mother before pulling her away.

Thea was scrolling through her phone, ignoring the ogling of the guard behind the desk in front of her when Ari finally stepped back into the lobby. She looked over to the girl and the sad expression on her face.

"What happened?" Thea asked and Ari simply glared before storming for the door.

Katie wasn't quite sure what she was doing. She stepped into her car and ended up outside of a building that she'd escaped only a few months ago. The moment her car pulled up the gate, a guard stepped from the security booth and when he saw her, a flash of recognition passed his eyes. She frowned slightly. "I'm here to see-" she really wasn't sure how to request permission inside to visit a dead man. But it would seem that she wouldn't have to.

"You're good to go, Mrs. Queen." The guard stepped back inside, and pressed the button to open the gate. Katie looked at him in confusion before turning and driving inside. Walking inside of the building was just as easy and she wonders just how familiar she was to the people here. She wondered if she came here often. Did she finally get over her disdain for ARGUS and actually become accustomed to venturing down these halls. When she walked through the doors, her eyes looked upon a man who looked back to her. He was apparently waiting for her.

"Katherine, it is good to see you." he greeted with a smile, and the moment he took a step forward, she stepped back. "Oh, I'm sorry, you're probably wondering who the hell I am. I guess you don't recognize this face." he placed a hand on his chest. "My name is Martin Ellis." Katie frowned as she looked back to the man. She'd seen Martin before, knew his face and his hair color, and the man in front of her didn't match that image at all. "I know I look different, but the old me had a few enemies and I needed to become someone else." she did notice the familiarity of his voice. "I'm assuming you're here to see your father." Katie didn't say anything as she looked at the man. "I'm also assuming you may have questions for me about our past encounters."

"I'm guessing you were just following Jacob's orders right?" Katie said before turning away. "Yes, I need to speak to him." she turned back to Martin who gave a nod.

"Follow me." Martin turned and walked off and Katie stood there for a moment, still hesitant to venture further inside of these walls. She let out a heavy breath before continuing after the man to what looked like a security check. There was a guard who stood near a metal detector. Katie walked through the machine, it beeping as she did, and her and Martin both stopped. She looked over to the man.

"So yeah, I'm armed." she turned back to the guard. "And I'm gonna stay that way. Is that a problem?" she looked at the guard who looked over to Martin who simply gave a nod.

"Some things never change." Martin muttered. "Lets go." he said and Katie turned and followed behind him.

They stood in an uncomfortable silence on the elevator as they waited for the doors to open.

"So how are you doing?" Martin asked breaking that silence and Katie turned to him. "With navigating through this life you don't remember?" she looked at him for a moment before turning back to the doors. Martin turned away as well figuring she probably wasn't up for small talk. "You know you should ask him."

"Ask him what?"

"The why." Martin glanced over her. "You've never asked him. Even before the memory loss, you never asked him why he did all of this this."

"Well I would assume I didn't ask because "the why" doesn't matter." Katie says looking over to the man. "Motive, intention doesn't change what is and what was. He wants to absolve himself, he just won't get that from me." the doors finally opened and Martin gave a nod before walking out, Katie in step behind him. They appeared outside of a door where Martin stopped and turned to her.

"He's expecting you, so you can walk in whenever you're ready." Martin moved around her and Katie watched as he headed down the hall. Her eyes turned back to door unsure if she would ever be ready, but she needed to do this. She reached forward, turning the door knob and walked inside.

Jacob was at his desk when she walked inside. A smile came to his face and he stood to his feet and walked around the desk over to her.

"Sunshine, you-" he took a step he figured was too close because she took a step back. The smile fell because he now knew this visit wasn't for him. "You need something."

"John Diggle was arrested for a crime I'm told he didn't commit." Katie says with a shake of her head. "I don't know if he did or didn't do it, but Oliver believes he didn't, and I believe Oliver." she turned back to Jacob. "Oliver, Bruce and Rick Flag are planning on breaking John out of prison." Jacob looked back to her still waiting on the reason she was here. "I need you to make sure they don't get caught." Jacob gave a nod as he turned and walked back over to sit behind his desk.

"You know I'm aware of who they all are." he said looking back over to his daughter who hadn't moved from her place in front of the door. "Oliver and Bruce, the Green Arrow and the Batman, so I find it difficult to believe they would get themselves caught."

"That may be so, but an extra line of defense couldn't hurt. Can you help?" he looked at her for a moment before he gave a nod.

"I can." he said and Katie let out sigh. "But I want something in return." she looked back to him with a frown. "I want you to have a meal with me. Actually several. Once a week for the next month." she continued to stare, unsure if he was being serious. "Just the month and then we can go back to this estranged father-daughter thing we have."

"You're serious."

"It's food. You sit, I sit, we talk about the world, or about Robyn or Ari. Like a family."

"A family?" Katie shook her head. "Because lots of families allow their daughters to be kidnapped and tortured for kicks and giggles." Jacob slapped a palm to his desk and stood to his feet.

"That's not true and I know you know that!" he said seriously. "If you want to know the reason, then ask, if not that's fine too." Katie scoffed turning away from the man. "It's food. Food for an extra line of defense for your husband and friends." Katie crossed her arms over her chest angrily and he couldn't help but smile. "Pout all you want sunshine, but those are my conditions. What do you say?" Katie shook her head before turning and storming for the door, pulling it open and stopping.

"Just make sure they're not caught, and pray I don't stab you with a steak knife." and with that she stormed out of the office.

Jacob chuckled to himself as he dropped down to his seat and glanced up.

"Don't worry, I won't mess it up this time, Gracie." he sighed.

After a long drive, Ari stormed into the house, fully prepared to go up to her room and lock herself away. She stopped when a smiling Katie came out of the kitchen.

"Oh, you're back. How did your visit go?" Ari looked at her cousin for a moment unsure if she should actually tell the truth about her mother's ultimatum. She was actually afraid it would only cause more problems and so she would just avoid the question.

"What's going on with Oliver?" Ari asked and Katie let out a sigh as she walked over to her.

"He's fine, he's just being an idiot. Right now it's best if that's all you know."

"What does that mean?" Ari frowned, glancing over her shoulder as Thea walked inside. The teen just shook her head before running upstairs and letting the slam of her door echo through the house. Katie turned to Thea who just shook her head with a shrug.

"So I'm assuming it wasn't a nice visit."

"No idea. But she came out of that room clearly upset about something. I wonder what Heather could've said to her."

"No idea, but I should probably schedule a visit with her to figure it out." Katie says sliding a hand over her face.

"So what's really going on with Ollie?" Thea asked and Katie lifted her eyes back to the woman.

"I think it's a conversation that should happen over booze. Interested?"

"Just thinking about the fires I'm going to have to put out tomorrow with me and Oliver taking the day off means I'm more than interested." Thea sighed as she closed the door behind her and followed Katie into the kitchen.

The next morning, Katie stood outside of Ari's door. The night before, she tried to coax the girl out of her room for birthday pizza and a movie, but Ari refused. Katie just hoped today would be better.

Katie knocked, "Hey Ari, you awake? I thought we should go driving around one more time before the test." she listened for a response.

"Ok, let me get dressed." Ari responded a bit groggily from the other side. The door bell rang and Katie turned with a furrowed brow.

"I'll get the door." she let out a sigh before venturing downstairs and pulling open the door to a slightly short woman, with over-sized glasses.

"Oh, hi, Mrs. Queen it's very nice to meet you." the woman said and Katie continued to look at her in confusion. Actually she was mostly confused that the woman was able to ring the doorbell without any interference from the guards. "I'm sorry, you're probably wondering who I am." the woman held out a hand. "I'm Clarice Watson, Ari's case worker." Katie's eyes widened with a nod.

"Oh, right, hi." she reached out to shake the woman's hand. "Please come in. Oliver mentioned that you could routinely stop by." Clarice walked inside the house, her eyes instinctively glancing around.

"Yeah, I've been checking in over the last couple of months and thought I would stop in today." she turned back to Katie as she closed the door.

"Sure, could I get you something, coffee, water, tea?"

"Actually I would take some tea." the woman said and Katie gave a nod.

"Ok, you can take a seat in here, and I will put the pot on." Katie says leading the woman into the living room, picking up toys as she did. "Sorry for the mess. I think my Robyn likes everyone to know she lives here." Clarice chuckled as she took a seat.

"Oh, I remember when my son was that age. Every room walked in, I was stepping on one of his toys."

Once the water was on the stove, the two woman sat in the living room.

"So how are things going with Ari? I know yesterday was her birthday."

"Yes, we're actually giving her this big birthday weekend. Yesterday we took her to this spa downtown where she was able to be pampered for the day."

"Gosh, I'm jealous. That sounds like the perfect way to spend a birthday." Clarice sighed. "And how did she seem?"

"Fine, happy. I've been planning this for a while because I know it might be tough for her. This being her first birthday without her parents. I just wanted it to be perfect."

"And she seems receptive to all of this from you?" Katie wasn't sure what the question was asking. "I just mean, in essence the reason she's not with her parents this year is because of their actions against you. I just wouldn't be surprised if she showed signs of resentment with all of this." Katie didn't say anything as she turned away.

"I don't believe so, no." Katie thought about the girl's behavior and wondered if there was some resentment toward her behind it.

"There have just been some concerns, especially with your return that Ari isn't taking this well."

"What concerns?" Katie asked turning back to the woman. "Concerns from who?"

Clarice let out a sigh. "I received a call from Mrs. Locke who has expressed concern with her daughter being here in the care of you and Mayor Queen."

"Really, and what has Heather concerned?"

"Well there are some things you may not remember. Uh, there was kidnapping months ago, Ari and another child were taken. There was a shooting at a Christmas party that she attended."

"All things that happened before you were appointed as Ari's case worker I believe." Katie replied. "I heard about the whole Ms. Sanburg catastrophe and the possibility that it was she who had part in that kidnapping."

"I'm aware of that and all of this information has been shared with Mrs. Locke who still sees the situations stemming from you and your husband. There are other instances that she mentioned. Your husband's kidnapping not too long ago. Then there's the fact that Ari was pulled from Havenrock and sent to SC Prep."

"My husband is a influential public official who has enemies, but we have extra security here to ensure Robyn or Ari are not harmed. And I believe Ari leaving Havenrock was her idea. She didn't want to go to some boarding school. She wanted to go to a local school where she could come back to a home with family who cared about her."

"And yet her grades have been dropping recently." Clarice said. Katie stared in confusion as the woman reached inside of her bag and handed Katie a folder. "They're not bad grades, but in the past her grades were consistently exceptional. Recently there have been slight drops in grades on homework assignments and tests, and there are even notes from her teachers that she seems more distracted. The timing of all of this seems to coincide with your return." Katie looked down to the papers in the folders, all photo copies of some of Ari's assignment and even some of those teacher notes. Katie had reason to believe she wasn't the reason for Ari's distraction. Katie closed the folder and handed it back to the woman.

"I will talk to Ari about this." Katie says and the woman gave a nod. "She's getting older, and I figure there are probably a lot of things that could be distracting her from her school work. Did Heather share any other concerns?"

"No, that is it, but she is asking for copies of our notes on these situations." the woman replied.

"Why?"

Clarice looked over to the woman and sighed. "I believe she plans to use them at some point in an effort to regain custody of Ari." Katie frowned with a shake of her head.

"But she's in prison."

"Yes, but she seems to believe that it may not be too much longer before her lawyers are able to set up some kind of deal for her release." Clarice replied when both women turned at the whistle of the tea pot.

"I got it!" came Ari's voice from the kitchen.

Katie turned back to Clarice who stood to her feet. "How about a rain check on the tea?" Katie gave a nod before walking the woman to the door. Clarice stopped before leaving and turned to Katie. "I shouldn't tell you this. I probably shouldn't have shared as much as I have, but I truly believe Ari is happy here, and I do believe her returning to the custody of her mother could be a bad idea. You and Mayor Queen just need to make sure nothing else happens that could endanger her." Katie simply gave a nod before watching as the woman walked to her car. Katie closed the door and let her back fall against it.

Oliver hadn't even been gone that long and she felt as if she were already screwing up everything. She pulled out her phone, tempted to call him and tell him to come back, but she didn't, knowing he really was doing something that needed his full attention.

Katie walked into the kitchen where she found Ari eating a bowl of cereal.

"Oliver didn't come home last night." she said when Katie entered. "Are you seriously not going to tell me what's going on with him?"

"I'm seriously not." Katie says walking over and taking a seat at the table beside her. "How much of that conversation did you hear?" Ari turned away. "So all of it?"

"It's all just stupid."

"I'm guessing your mother may have shared some of this with you yesterday which is why you were so upset." Ari didn't say anything as she continued to eat her cereal. "Do you want to talk about it?"

After a long moment, Ari shook her head. "Nope."

"Ok," Katie stood to her feet and placed a kiss to the top of Ari's head and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. Ari seemed to let herself be pulled into the embrace needing the comfort. "When you're ready, let me know. Always remember nothing happens to you that you do not want to happen." Ari remembered her mother's veiled threats to Oliver and Katie and couldn't help but believe she truly had no choice in the matter. "We want whatever you want." she placed another kiss to her head. "I'm going get Robyn dressed and then we can head out." Ari turned and watched as Katie left the kitchen and she so wanted to just spill her guts about everything in hopes that her cousin could just fix it. Because if her mother was released, she didn't want to leave this place that has felt like home. Something she hasn't felt in a very long time. She feels if she doesn't figure out a way out of this deal with her mother then she had no other choice.

One of the most important parts of Diggle's extraction was making sure they left without a trace. That meant Bruce and Oliver had to stake out at some old abandoned warehouse just a couple of miles from the prison.

Oliver and Bruce stood above the map once again going over every detail of this plan. They heard the side door open, and Bruce quickly pulled out a gun and aimed only to drop it as Lyla walked inside with a face he hadn't seen in ages.

"Flag." Bruce greeted.

"Wayne," the man replied before turning to Oliver. "Oliver." he glanced around the warehouse for a moment. "So she really isn't here?" Oliver frowned slightly before looking over to Lyla who cleared her throat and headed over to the table to look down to the map. Oliver walked over to the man and held out a hand to which Rick shook.

"Thanks for doing this, but I'm sure Bruce and I could've pulled this off."

"Apparently your wife didn't share that opinion which is why she called me." Rick dropped his bag to the floor. "I've got experience in prison breaks."

"Well this one won't be as loud and proud as Belle Reeve." Bruce said and Rick just laughed. "This has to be clean and quiet and quick."

"I've gone over the plan. It's very precise which I assume is also Bird's doing." Rick walked over to the table and glanced down to the map."

"Bird?" Oliver said and they all turned to him and he looked back to them before he realized who the man was referring to. "You mean Katie." Rick didn't say anything before looking back down to the map for a second before going over to check out the tech they would be using. Oliver looked over to Bruce and Lyla who seemed to nervously look over to him as if they were worried about something. "What?" they both just shook their heads before looking back down to the map. Oliver stood there for a moment before looking over to Rick unsure why he felt as if he were missing something.

Katie thinks Ari's mood improved immensely the moment her instructor told her that she'd passed her driving test. Katie even nervously let the new driver drive them to City Hall where they would meet Thea who insisted on going shopping with them.

They silently rode the elevator and Katie glanced over to the girl who stared down to her driver's license with a smile.

"Oliver is going to freak out when he sees that." Katie says and Ari laughed turning to her.

"He's probably going to freak even more when I bring up the topic of driving myself to school instead of Hank." she sighed. "I can hear the riot act now."

"So school," Katie said. "Ms. Watson mentioned some of your grades dropping." Ari let out a sigh.

"That's totally my fault." Ari said with a slight shrug. "I'm still trying to figure out how to split my attention between the whole vigilante thing and studying for my exams." the doors opened Ari made to leave, but Katie moved Robyn's stroller to block her.

"Studying for exams should come before the vigilante thing." Katie said.

"I don't even know why I need to go to school in the first place." Ari muttered before walking around her cousin. Katie scoffed grabbing the stroller and following after the girl. "Evelyn is the same age and she doesn't have to go."

"I don't give a crap about what Evelyn doesn't do, I care about you and the fact that you are going to go to school and you're going to graduate and then go to college and be great."

"Except I don't need any of that to be a hero." Ari said before just walking into Thea's office, stopping when she realized the woman wasn't alone. "Oh, sorry." Katie walked behind her, now able to see Thea in a meeting with Quentin and a man she didn't recognize.

"Sorry, teens and knocking is totally unheard of." Katie says before looking over to Thea.

"No its fine." Thea stood to her feet and turned to the man beside her. "Adrian Chase this is Katherine Queen and Arianna Locke." she turned back to Katie. "Katie, this is the city's district Attorney, Adrian Chase." the man smiled as he walked over to shake Katie's hand.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Katherine." the man greeted and Ari frowned slightly at the man's informal greeting. People usually didn't go directly to a first name basis with a mayor's wife at a first meeting. It was a thought she assumes went right over Katie's head as the woman smiled and shook the man's hand.

"And you as well, Mr. Chase. I'm sorry for interrupting your meeting, we really can just wait outside." Thea was about to respond, but Adrian beat her to it.

"Actually we had just finished up," he said, that smile still on his face and Ari just rolled her eyes. "You know I've been wanting to meet with you."

"Really?" Katie said looking over to Thea who looked just as confused before she turned back to the man. "Why is that?"

"Well for you assistance in apprehending Damien Darhk." he said and Katie still looked confused while the others in the room looked slightly nervous about the topic. "I know you probably don't remember most of it, and I know we don't have much of the details but what we do know is that monster is off of the streets and you helped with that. Just thought I would pick your brain about anything you could tell me about it." Katie looked at the man for a moment and she suddenly felt uneasy about the question itself.

"Everything that pertains to the Damien Darhk arrest is in the files." Quentin says taking a step forward. "I'm also pretty sure that's not a question you should be asking her without her own lawyer present."

"Hey, it was honestly just curiosity," he looked from the man back to Katie. "You're kind of like a hero in this city and I truly believe you should be recognized for it." he shook her hand once more, this time placing his other on top of their joined hands. "It was a pleasure meeting you." with that the man left the office and Ari closed the door before turning to the others who were looking over to Katie.

"What?" she asked.

"No-nothing, just sorry, I didn't know he was going to ask you that." Thea said glancing over to Quentin.

"So I really have to babysit some evidence?"

"Well we trust you, and I'm sure this is also what Oliver would want."

"I'm not too sure about that, but I'll take your word for it." he chuckled before turning back to Katie and then Ari. "So I heard someone turned 16 yesterday," Ari just shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "That is the exact same reaction I got from both my daughters." he chuckled before turning back to Katie. "Well I guess I should get going."

"See ya," Katie says as the man passes her. Once he's gone they turned to Thea. "So are you still able to go shopping with us?"

"Oh absolutely!" Thea said in excitement. "I've been looking forward to it all day." she looked over to Ari with a smile. "Any thoughts on what you want to wear to the party, because I have ideas."

"Of course you do." Ari sighed before turning and leaving the office. "I don't care as long as I get to drive."

Thea turned to Katie. "She got her license?" Katie nodded. "Oh, Ollie is going to freak." both women just laughed as they went to catch up to the girl.

A day of shopping with Thea Queen was like a whirl wind. The woman seemed to know every clerk in every store. She moved around each store pulling things from the racks for both Ari and Katie and herself. Soon the trio found themselves sitting in the food court surrounded by shopping bags. Katie placed a hand on top of Robyn's head who too had tuckered herself out from the shopping and was now sleeping.

"I should get this one home to bed." Katie says looking over to Ari and Thea. "So was today a fun day?" Ari looked over and shrugged.

"I mean it was ok." she replied and Thea just shook her head. "Fine, yes, I had a good time, leave me alone." Thea and Katie just laughed.

"I think I'm more excited about the party tomorrow." Thea said and Katie looked over to her with a quirked brow.

"Why, it's a bunch of teenagers dancing to music way too loud. What about that excites you?"

"The nostalgia of it. I remember my sweet sixteenth birthday and it was sort of the best day of my teenage experience. All my friends called it the party of the century." Katie just shook her head. "What about you, what did you do for your sixteenth birthday?" Katie just shrugged.

"Nothing." she replied. "My dad was on one of his explicably timed business trips to who knows where. I went to school where not a single person even knew it was my birthday. I went home, ate pizza and watched movies alone for the rest of the night."

"Well that's sad." Ari said and Katie looked over to her. "Sorry,"

"No, it is kind of sad I guess, but it was whatever."

"Is that why you've been trying so hard with making my birthday this big thing?" Katie just once again shrugged. Katie turned to Thea who looked slightly confused about something.

"What?"

"It's just Ollie knew about your birthday. I distinctively remembered him buying you something that was wrapped in this pretty pink paper. I only remember because I spotted it one morning I came into his room and asked what it was and he threw a fit about me coming into his room uninvited. But I saw your name on it." Thea said and Katie just shrugged.

"Did you say pink paper?" Katie asked and Thea nodded. "That doofus."

"What?" Thea asked and Katie just shook her head.

"While I was watching movies, the doorbell rang. So when I go to see who it was, no one was there, but there was this small box wrapped in this shiny pink wrapping paper." Katie shook her head. "I looked around but no one was there, so I grabbed it and brought in the house."

"What was it?" Ari asked.

"It was a charm bracelet. Really pretty." Katie said. "I had no idea who sent it, but I figured someone knew it was my birthday. I wore it like everyday until I lost it. I searched for it everywhere, but couldn't find it." she turned back to Thea. "I can't believe Oliver gave it to me. Why wouldn't he just give it to me himself?"

"Maybe he chickened out." Thea said.

"Yeah, maybe." Katie replies glancing over to Ari whose phone buzzed. She pulled it out and frowned.

"It's Felicity, she's asking the team to meet at the bunker." she looked over to Katie.

"Is everything alright?"

"Doesn't say. I have to go though." Ari stood to her feet. "Can I take the car?"

"Fine, but drive safe. Check your blind spots, and don't run any more stop signs."

"Well I learned it from someone who works for the city." Ari said sending a sideways glance to Thea who looked back to her with wide eyes.

"I –I-" she turned to Katie. "I was late and no one was around and-" she turned back to Ari. "And you promised it would stay between us."

"No I didn't." Ari laughed before turning and leaving.

"Gah, she's so evil sometimes." Thea said and Katie looked over to her with a smile. "What?"

"Nothing, just she reminds me of a certain someone who works for the city as well." Thea just scoffed before throwing a fry over to her. Thea just laughed when her phone suddenly beeped as well. She looked down to the text and frown. "Everything alright?"

"No," she looked back up to Katie. "I have to go. There was an explosion at the police station."

"Wow, is everyone alright?"

"I'm not sure. Quentin was there with Adrian Chase to walk through the chain of evidence for Church's brief case that was brought in."

"It was the case the blew up, wasn't it?"

"I don't know." Thea stood to her feet. "I'm going to get you guys a car home."

"It's fine, I will call one of the guards to pick us up. Just go. We'll be fine." Thea simply nodded before turning and rushing away. Katie let out a sigh as she looked at all the bags she would have to be lugging with her. "I'm never going shopping with your auntie again."

Ari hurried into the bunker finding that she was the last to arrive. They all turned to her when she arrived and she noticed their stares were lingering.

"What?"

"Your hair is different." Curtis says with a smile. "It looks nice. You look more grown up." he walked over to her and gave her a bit of a hug. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks Curtis," she turned to the others who were standing behind Felicity. That's also when she noticed Quentin among the group and he looked a bit bruised. "What happened, are you ok?" she went over to the man who gave a nod. They turned at the sound of the elevator once again opening and this time it was Thea who was rushing in. Her eyes went to Quentin and she quickly came over.

"I'm fine."

"And who are you?" came Rene's abrasive question and Thea turned to him.

"I'm Thea, Oliver's chief of staff."

"she's also his sister," Curtis said in a tone he hoped Rene understood meant to tone back his aggressive tone with the woman.

"What happened?" Ari asked.

"Tobias Church happened." Quentin moved back over to the computers. "That evidence that you guys recovered from Kord Industries- modified to go boom."

"He wanted it to be put into lockup." Felicity said.

"And he wanted to raid it. One-stop shopping for weapons." Thea added with a shake of her head she looked down to the monitor.

"Including those RPGs that he took from Amertek if this report's right." Felicity said.

"We got to find out what he's planning to do with those weapons- because it ain't nothing good." Rene said looking around to the others.

Evelyn let out a sigh before looking over to Felicity."This is a really bad time for Oliver to be out of town."

"Yeah. I just tried him. He's gone dark." Felicity said, "Why don't you guys hit the streets? We want to figure out what Church is up to before it's too late." that seemed to confuse the others. Up until this point they hadn't done anything without Oliver's approval.

"You sure?" Curtis asked thinking about their previous screw ups and how Oliver was there to fix them which wouldn't happen this time.

Felicity nodded."Mm-hmm."

"I don't think Oliver would want us out there without him." Evelyn said what the team was thinking.

"Right. Well, Oliver forfeited his opinion when he left."

"Ok, but this is an all hands on deck situation, rag-covered hands included." Curtis said and Felicity turned to him. Ari glanced around only now realizing that Rory wasn't there.

"Where is Rory?" Ari asked and Felicity looked over to her.

"Not here, but I will get him here."

"What about Mrs. Queen?" Evelyn asked and they all turned to her. "She is the Guardian. Couldn't she be a good substitute for an absent Green Arrow?"

"I'm also positive Oliver wouldn't want his wife on the hunt for Tobias Church." Curtis said turning to Felicity who was apparently calling the shots.

"That will be a last resort." Felicity said turning and grabbing her jacket.

Katie sat in her living room now filled with shopping bags she didn't have the strength to put away. She sat with her eyes closed back against the couch ever so often cracking open an eye to look at the phone in her hand. She couldn't stop worrying about Oliver, about Ari and she hated this feeling. She hated that she would have to sit and wait until they walked through to door to alleviate her fears. She let out a huff before swiping open her phone to send Oliver a text.

" _Your phone better be off right now so you shouldn't be reading this. I just thought I would tell you that I'm still mad at you, but I miss your stupid face. It's kind of been a crazy day. I'm not sure how you did all of this on your own, because I'm just exhausted. Just...come home soon."_ she sent the message and tossed her phone before standing to her feet. She probably wouldn't be sleeping tonight. She decided she was going to take a shower and find something to watch on the television. She walked out of the living room, stopping at the stairs when she heard something behind her. Katie turned to the door, her eyes looking down to the white envelope that was slid underneath her door.

There was a sudden dread that hit her as she stepped toward the envelope. Something about the situation seemed familiar and yet she couldn't place it. There was a voice inside of her head yelling at her not to pick up the envelope, and yet she reached down and picked it up before pulling open the door and glancing out. The neighborhood was dark and she didn't see anyone, not even one of the guards who once again didn't prevent someone from just appearing at their door. Katie stepped back inside the house, closing the door behind her before looking back down to the envelope. She flipped it around now seeing something written.

" _To the bitch._ " Katie read. "I guess that's me." she peeled open the envelope looking inside to only see a piece of paper. She pulled it out and unfolded it and what looked like sand fell out. Katie looked down to it confused before looking back up to what was written.

" _The grains of sand in the hourglass are running out for you."_

Katie looked at the words, the message pretty clear.

"Of course, someone is trying to kill me." Katie muttered with a shake of her head as she turned and headed upstairs.


	12. Surprise

**Chapter 12**

**Surprise**

_"We are afraid of the enormity of the possible. "_

_-Emil Cioran_

* * *

Felicity appeared outside of Rory's little hole in the wall apartment. She hadn't spoken to him since this morning when she couldn't take the secret anymore and told him about the explosion in his hometown. Every time he mentioned his hometown she couldn't stop thinking about the reason behind it. The truth was she only had a little bit of the truth. She has no idea why the darkness inside of Katie stopped all but one nuke, but she felt that she couldn't hide it from Rory any longer and she was pretty sure she's going to have to come clean to Katie as well. She told him about the other explosions that never happened, and how the one that hit his hometown was missed. She didn't go into too many details, she didn't tell him about the darkness in Katie's body or even her powers, just that the woman was able prevent the others but not the one that killed the people in his hometown. He quit the team after that and now she was here hoping he would change his mind. It didn't seem to be working.

"Felicity, I appreciate you coming down here, but I just can't." Rory said with a shake of his head. "I can't do this knowing that for some reason I don't completely understand, one woman decided that my entire family would die."

"That's just it. I told you that we don't know the complete story. There's a reason, I'm sure of it. She just can't tell us right now."

"You're probably right, there probably is a reason, but it doesn't change what happened. There was something she could do and she didn't do it and I can't-"

"Work side by side with someone who is a reminder of what you lost. I get it. I remember thinking I was the one trying to stop Darhk from stealing those nukes, that I was the one who failed when we thought he took them. That devastation that I could've stopped him and couldn't—I know it's not the same thing, but seeing you reminds me of that feeling too. But we want the same thing—to live with what happened and move forward." Felicity's phone buzzed and she pulled it from her pocket. "It's Curtis." she looked back over to Rory. "I'm so sorry, and we could really use you."

"I'm sorry Felicity, I just can't right now."

Felicity simply nodded. "Well if you change your mind, we're here." he gave a nod before watching her leave.

Ari sat beside Curtis at one of the computers. She'd been typing away trying to figure out the endgame with all of this.

"Anything?" Curtis asked her and Ari turned to him with a shake of her head.

"Nothing. I just can't figure out what the point of all of this was. Church wanted that explosion, he wanted to raid the SCPD, but would he really just do this for weapons?" she turned back to the monitor.

"Well he is a bad guy and bad guys usually want more weapons." Evelyn said from behind the girl. "Maybe you should spend less time trying to think like a criminal and more time trying to find one. Or maybe thinking like one comes easier for you given who your parents are." Ari refused to look over to the girl, instead she turned back to Curtis.

"It's so weird that she thinks I won't just kick her ass right now."

"I'd like to see you try," Evelyn took a step forward, but Curtis held up a hand to stop her.

"Definitely not the time." he said just as the elevators opened and in hurried Felicity.

"It's about time, blondie," Rene said impatiently and Felicity grit her teeth at the nickname she could not get away from.

"That's not my name." she said going over to Curtis and Ari. "Any luck locating church on your recon?"

"No, but street cams actually picked him up so he's on the move." Curtis said. "so we know he's on the move we just have no idea where he's going."

"We can't go after Church until we know his end game." Felicity said.

"Sounds like an excuse to sit around and do nothing." Rene said and Felicity rolled her eyes before reaching forward to type something.

Ari's phone buzzed and she looked down to see it was a call from Katie. She stood to her feet and moved away from the others take the call. "Hey, what's up?"

" _You still at the bunker?_ " Katie asked.

"Yeah, why?"

" _No—no reason, I was just-"_

"Hey, are you alright?"

" _Yeah, I'm fine, just sitting here alone worrying about you and Oliver and you're the only one who can answer your phone. You're probably busy. I'm sorry, just be safe, I'll see you when you get home."_

"You sure you're alright?"

" _Yeah, I'm sure. I'm good. See you when you get home."_

Ari looked down to her phone for a moment before turning to join the others.

"Why does that sound familiar?" Rene asked. Their eyes on the monitor. Ari walked over to see an address now on the screen.

"Because we were just there." Evelyn said and the moment Ari saw the address she knew she was right.

"That's where the ACU is bunkered," Ari said everything making sense now. "He planned all of this. He wanted his guy to be taken by the ACU."

"Church is going to take them out." Felicity said and Ari nodded.

Katie found herself lying on the small couch in the nursery after a while. There was just something about a death threat being slipped under the door that made the woman want to stick close to her daughter. She looked down to her phone once again hoping Oliver would call or send a message and it was killing her not knowing what was going on with him. She swiped opened her phone to send another text.

 _"You're so infuriating you know that. I'm still mad at you, if you haven't guessed, but an "I'm still alive" text would actually be courteous. But do I get one, nope because Oliver Queen just has be focused on the task at hand and I get it. I really do, but I'm still sitting here wondering how long I'm going to give you before I decide you're the one who needs saving. Which I will, just know that when I find you, I will probably kick your ass. You're so annoying, just come home already._ " she sent the message before dropping her phone and letting out a heavy sigh.

Bruce lost the coin toss. Oliver would be going in to retrieve John, while Rick would be going in through the front as eyes and ears. Bruce was stuck in the stakeout van with Lyla who knew he really didn't want to be there. They'd just gotten through the security check point, both Oliver and Rick inside.

"You know I appreciate your help with this," Lyla said looking over to the Bruce who turned from the prison's surveillance footage.

"Just make sure when I'm stuck in some prison, John is the first person to volunteer to break me out."

"You know he will be." Lyla said turning back to the screen to see Oliver was now inside. "Cell 1138, right side, third from the left.

" _He's not here,"_ Oliver said.

Bruce quickly typed. "Shit. They moved him to gen pop."

Lyla huffed. "Oliver if you go in there, neither one of you is getting out."

" _Talk to me. When is he coming back to his cell._

"Outside of our window." Lyla said.

" _If those MPs wake up the first thing they're going to do is move John and rest of the inmates to a safe location. We lose our shot."_

"Abort. We're blown."

" _You know I think I'm offended."_ Came Rick's voice. " _You get me here to do what I do and you don't even give me a chance to do it."_

"You have an idea?" Bruce asked.

" _I do, but it's kind of loud and proud."_ Rick replied and Lyla and Bruce shared a look. " _Make yourself scarce Queen, I'll get John to you."_

" _I think I'm going to have questions when this is all over,"_ Oliver said.

At the moment, one thing was clear. They needed to stop Tobias Church. They'd just watched security footage of Tobias and his crew as they blew into the ACU bunker.

"D'angelo's right, we need to put Church down." Rene said.

"Against that? Without Oliver. No—we're shorthanded as is." Evelyn said turning to the man.

"You scared?"

"No, but I'm also not stupid."

"Evie's right, I'm not sending you out there just to get slaughtered." Felicity said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Curtis said and Felicity turned to him.

"You saw what you're up against, ok? This isn't some drill where you take down a petty thug or drug dealer. This is real, ok, with real stakes. The 4 of you could die out there."

"That's something we get to decide for ourselves, isn't it?" They turned now seeing Rory walk in. "I mean I don't know about anyone else, but I didn't join this team to stay safe." Felicity turned to him with a smile.

"Fine, then how about a vote." she said.

"We're all going to say yes, blondie," Rene said before turning off to suit up.

"fine, just go and don't die." Felicity said and Ari walked over to her as everyone else went to get changed.

"You should probably have my cousin on speed dial. She's definitely not going to be happy about this." Ari said and Felicity just nodded before watching the girl go off to get changed as well.

Bruce and Lyla lifted their heads when they suddenly heard an alarm going off. They looked between the monitors.

" _Code yellow, return all prisoners to their cell."_

" _He's on his way Oliver,"_ came Rick's breathy voice. He was running.

"Rick, where are you?" Lyla asked.

" _Getting the hell out of here before that guy I just knocked out and tied up wakes up. I'm meeting back up with you two at the plane."_

"So much for quiet." Bruce said.

" _Oliver when you get John, you're going to have to move quickly. There are going to be a lot of soldiers with guns all over the place now."_

"Got it." Oliver replied.

Katie didn't actually know she'd fallen asleep until her ringing phone woke her up. She quickly answered it, glancing over to Robyn who only stirred but didn't wake up.

"Hello, Oliver?" she whispered as she stepped into the hallway.

" _No, it's me."_ came Felicity voice. " _We need your help."_

From what Felicity told her on the phone, Tobias Church was making moves again. This time attacking an ACU bunker and that the newbie vigilantes decided they would stop him without Oliver. Apparently the only injury was Curtis who was stabbed as they were leaving. Katie currently stood in the elevator waiting for the doors to open to the bunker. She looked down to her daughter who was not happy about being pulled from her crib. There was a lot of crying that didn't stop until they were in the car when the girl drifted back off to sleep. The moment the doors opened, Katie hurried off, and she saw them all crowded around Curtis who was lying face down on one of the tables unconscious. Evelyn had her hand around the knife in his back about to pull it out.

"Don't touch that!" Katie yelled and the girl jumped, everyone's eyes turning to Katie. She looked around the room, relieved to see Ari. "Just don't touch anything." she turned back to Evelyn. "Back away from him." Evelyn did as she was told. Katie pulled off her jacket. "I need everyone to get as far away from me and Curtis as possible right now." she turned to Ari. "Go put Robyn down in the back." Ari nodded before taking Robyn's stroller. Katie turned to see Evelyn, and Rory still standing near Curtis. "I don't like to say things twice."

"Guys just go, let her work." Felicity said. Evelyn simply nodded before she walked off. Rory stood there for a moment looking over to Katie and Felicity got nervous. "Rory, please just go." he turned to her before deciding to listen and soon he walked off. Katie hurried over to Curtis, before glancing around and grabbing a pair of gloves and a pair of scissors to cut his shirt. "So I get the whole, "Grr" thing right now, but they're all a bit raw right now after what just happened."

"What part of that am I supposed to feel sympathetic about?" Katie says tearing Curtis shirt apart to look at the stab wound. "They should've never been out there."

"Oliver was gone and Church was going to attack the ACU. They were the only option."

"Except they were not the only option!" Katie growls, but takes a deep breath and looks back up to the woman who was clearly upset with what had happened as well. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just- I wish I was called."

"I'm sorry, but at the time I wasn't sure if I should." Felicity said and Katie looked over to her. "Twinkie, you haven't worn that suit in months and I have never gotten any inclination that you would want to be Oliver's stand in here when he's gone. I thought I was respecting some sort of unspoken wish to not be apart of this." Katie looked at her for a moment wondering if she were right. Katie shook her head.

"Do you know why I put on that suit to save Oliver when he was kidnapped?" Katie asked looking over to the woman. "I saw that suit and I had no idea what the hell it was, but I knew that I was going to put it on if it helped me get Oliver back. I don't know what it means to wear that suit, Felicity, but if it means saving the lives of people I care about, I will put it on, every time. Remember that."

"I will."

"Thank you. Anything on Rene?" Felicity shook her head. "Go, see what you can do about finding him. When you have something, let me know and I will go." Felicity nodded before going off. Katie looked back down to Curtis, examining the stab wound. It was in his back, a couple of centimeters to the left and it would've punctured his spine. "We're definitely upgrading the gear around here." Katie says before grabbing some gauze. She reached forward and pulled out the knife before immediately placing the gauze over the wound to stop the bleeding.

Of course, John Diggle being John Diggle wouldn't make saving his life easy. He actually argued with Oliver about coming to save him and risking his life. Oliver was finally able to convince the man before it was too late. Both men had finally made it outside.

"Put this on." Oliver said handing a harness to John who looked down to it in confusion, but he put it on anyway. "Let's go!" soon there were footsteps and they turned as soldiers with guns came their way. "Dig, your harness." John looked over to Oliver before looking down to his harness and making sure it was secured.

"You two, freeze!" one of the soldiers said. "Down on the ground, lace your fingers behind your head!"

"Do it now!" the other soldier said. "Soon more soldiers came and they were surrounded. John thinking there was no where else to go, raised his hands.

"John, don't-" before Oliver could finish his sentence, flash bombs exploded in the sky above them and all the soldiers surrounding them looked up. "John don't move!" and when they heard the propellers, Oliver pressed the button on his own harness sending the zipline to the plane and in the blink of an eye he and John went shooting up in the sky.

Katie had long stitched Curtis up and was now wiping the painted face mask off with a towel. She glanced up when she felt eyes on her. It was Rory.

"I'm sorry for yelling before. Today has been a roller coaster of a day."

"Same." he replied still watching her. Watching how gentle she was with Curtis, and he couldn't see it. This woman he's heard so much about, whose done so much for this city, why wouldn't she stop that nuke. He wanted to ask her, but he knows without her memories she won't be able to answer.

"I'm sorry." Katie stopped wiping and looked over to Rory.

"You said that already."

"Yeah, but I'm not apologizing for the yelling." she replied putting the towel down and pulling off her gloves and walking around to him. "I actually don't know what I'm apologizing for which is really weird, but I want to stand in front of you and tell you that I'm sorry with everything inside of me. And since I don't know what I'm apologizing for, I'm not going to ask you to forgive me." she shook her head. "Just know that I'm sorry." she turned when she heard a groan from Curtis and she quickly went to check on him not seeing how dumbfounded Rory had found himself.

It was bordering on morning and there was no indication of where Rene could be. No one had left the bunker even though they were barely keeping their eyes opened.

"Alright, that's it." Katie walked over and they all turned to her. "You all need to go home, get some sleep and then come back later."

"We can't just go to sleep when Rene is out there." Evelyn said and Katie turned to her. "It was your stupid rule, remember. We're responsible for making sure everyone on this team made it home."

"Well that wasn't a stupid rule, and I still stand behind that, but everyone standing around here barely able to stand up right isn't going to accomplish that. When we get a location on Rene, I need everyone in this room totally and completely focused and able to work to their full potential. Nobody goes back out there on lack of sleep or food."

"And you decide that now?" Evelyn asked and Katie looked over to the girl with a smile before walking over to stand in front of her.

"I do." Katie replied before turning to the others. "When Oliver is not here and you require tactical supervision, you get me." she turned back to Evelyn. "When Oliver is not here, I decide who does and does not go out there. You can not help Rene when you can barely keep your eyes opened. You're going to take Curtis home." she turned to Ari. "You and Robyn are going home with Felicity."

"Oh, I was going to stay-" Katie turned to Felicity who sighed. "I can keep the search running until after I sleep and my brain doesn't feel like complete mush." Felicity stood to her feet.

"Everyone go home, sleep and then come back here. We're not going to stop searching until we find Rene." Katie said and they all followed their orders and headed home.

Ari had gathered Robyn and her things and packed her into her stroller. She turned to Katie who was staring down to the monitor. "You're going out there, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not, as much as I would love to. I need a starting point. I'm the only person here who has slept tonight, so I will keep an eye on Felicity's search." Katie brought her arms around the girl in a hug. "Get some sleep."

Katie's eyes were glued to the monitor and there was still nothing. She stood to her feet and began stretching her sore muscles. Her eyes looked over to her phone that beeped when she picked up she saw Oliver's name. She let out a sigh before opening the message.

" _First, if you haven't guessed, I'm alive. I'm sorry for not letting you know sooner. We have John and we're on our way home. Second, my face isn't stupid, but I figure that's just your anger talking. Third, I had a lot of crazy days without you, but I had Thea so she helped a lot. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you with this one. Fourth, I know you're still upset with me and I plan on fixing that when I get home. I miss you too. More than I thought I would actually. I should be home soon. I love you. "_

Katie smiled as she looked down to the text and without realizing it, tears streamed down her cheeks. This one time, when there was no one else around, she decided she'd let the fall.

The next morning, when they got back to Star City, the first thing Oliver wanted to do was get John settled in the place he'd have to hide out. There was only one place that came to mind and it just so happened to be a H.I.V.E safe-house.

Oliver looked over to a hugging John and Lyla and he smiled. John pulled back and turned to Oliver.

"So how mad were Katie and Felicity about all of this?"

"What makes you think they were mad?" Bruce asked and John looked over to him and chuckled.

"Because I know Felicity and I get the feeling that even though Katie doesn't remember me, she wouldn't be alright with Oliver risking his life to break me out of prison."

"Well I think all will be better once they see that the plan worked." Bruce said looking over to Oliver who didn't seem too optimistic. "Damn, I'm going to have to buy her something."

"That's not going to work, man." John said and Bruce turned a glare to him that just made John laugh.

"Look I really appreciate what you guys did for me. And that includes Rick, where ever he ran off to." he looked over to Lyla who shrugged.

"No idea, but with Rick's new job with Waller, he doesn't usually stay in one place too long. I assumed this time would be different since I figured he'd want to see-" Lyla stopped herself realizing she was saying too much.

"You assumed he'd stay to see Katie." it was Oliver who said the words. "Because she and him were more than just friends, right?"

"That I don't know. Honestly." Lyla said glancing over to Bruce who just shook his head. "I just know that they were close." she turned back to Oliver.

"Just get it out of your head with it Oliver." Bruce said and Oliver looked over to the man. "It doesn't matter what happened, only what is happening right now. Right now your wife probably wants to punch you in the face, but I bet she'd hug you after. She doesn't feel that way about Flag."

"I have no idea what that means." Oliver muttered with a shake of his head before turning back to John and Lyla when his phone buzzed. He looked down to see a message from Felicity.

"What's wrong?" Lyla asked and Oliver looked over to her.

"I have to go." Oliver replied turning to leave.

"Hey," John walked over to him and Oliver stopped and turned back. "When you said you hadn't changed. Don't." Oliver gave a smile before shaking his hand. "And she'll forgive you. It's the Twiver way." Oliver just shook his head before hurrying out of there.

"So do we know where the flash bombs came from?" Bruce asked looking over to Lyla who nodded with a sigh.

"Yeah, I got a call when we landed. It was Jacob making sure everyone was safe."

"Did you tell him about any of this?"

"I didn't tell anyone at ARGUS." Lyla said with a shake of her head. Bruce turned away and slid a hand over his face. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking Robins bit the bullet and asked Jacob for his help with this." he said turning to her.

"She really is good." Lyla sighed.

"Yeah, but I'm almost afraid to know what happened at that little reunion."

"Do you think she shot him again?" John asked and Bruce looked over to the man and shrugged. Bruce felt his own phone vibrate, and he quickly pulled it out hoping for a message from Felicity responding to one of his many messages he's sent since his returned. He looked down to the phone and didn't see a message from Felicity.

"Now you have a look." Lyla said and Bruce looked over to him. "What's wrong?"

"At the moment, nothing, but I'm pretty sure that's going to change." Bruce stood to his feet and walked over to John and held out a hand. "You owe me big time buddy, and I plan on collecting soon." John chuckled as he shook Bruce's hand.

"I'm laughing, but I'm actually scared to death." he said and Bruce just smiled.

"You should be."

Felicity glared at the monitor. She'd returned to the bunker after maybe a few hours of sleep to find the search not picking up nothing on Rene's location.

The blonde groaned. "What is the point of having keyhole satellite imagery if you can't use it to find anybody?"

"I feel like I don't understand half the sentences you say." came Rory's voice from behind her. The woman turned to see him holding two mugs of coffee and she assumed one was for her.

"What I'm saying is that no matter how hard I try I cannot find Rene anywhere." she shook her head before turning back to the screen. "And I was the one who told you guys to leave him behind."

"Sounds like another impossible decision." Rory said and Felicity sighed. It seemed her life seemed to be a never ending cycle of impossible decisions, but he figures he's referring to the ever present elephant in the room. She turned to the man with a slight smile. "You know she apologized to me. It was a strange apology. She said she didn't know what it was for, but that she just wanted me to know that she was sorry." he turned away slightly. "I think I believed her. I'm not sure why since I don't know much about her besides that she can be really nice at one moment and grumpy in the next." he turned back to Felicity who let out a light chuckle. "I think you were right before. If we're gonna do this, we can't let guilt swallow us up. I'll keep you from doing it if you promise the same for me." Felicity smiled before standing to her feet and taking the mug and clinking it against his.

"Deal." Felicity said and Rory glanced around.

"Where did she go anyway?" he asked.

"Well it was her turn to rest, but she wasn't going anywhere. She's hopefully taking a nap in the backroom right now." Felicity replied before glancing around. "Ari is here somewhere."

Ari paced back and forth with her phone pressed to her ear. She'd called Oliver dozens of times and he wasn't answering. She was sure at this point she knows he's screening her calls because he knows she's going to yell at him. His phone went to voice mail once again.

"You know preventing the inevitable doesn't actually stop it from happening. You totally ditched us without a word and then I find out you're playing jail breaker." she let out a huff. "And you ditched me on my birthday doofus, which I may never forgive you for. Your fate solely depends on whatever gift you got for me." she slid her hand through her hair. "You know you can answer so I at least know you're alright. You'd ground me forever if I ever went dark this long." she shook her head because she knew she was truly worried about him, but she didn't want it to actually show. "Whatever, do whatever you want." she ended the call and let out a groan before deciding to head back out to see if Felicity had found something. She didn't expect for everyone to be there, including Oliver.

He was looking down to Felicity before lifting his eyes to the others, and that's when he spotted Ari across the bunker and he stared at her for a moment. It was the first time he'd seen since this whole look and he couldn't get over how different she looked.

"We're gonna find him, we're gonna bring him back..." Oliver said before turning to the others. "Where ever he is." he turned back to Felicity. "Let me know the exact moment you have something." Felicity gave him a nod. "And if it could help, maybe you could pull Bruce in on the search." Felicity gave him a look and she simply nodded. Oliver let out a sigh before walking over to Curtis who was standing up, but still clearly in pain. "How are you doing?"

"Better, thanks to your better half. She's around here somewhere I think."

"Yeah, she came in and played mother hen." Evelyn said. "Apparently she's our other team lead when you're not around."

"Well she is my Guardian, so I'm going to say yes. I try her completely." Oliver said before turning to Curtis. "Take it easy, ok?" Curtis gave a nod before Evelyn helped him over to a seat to sit. Oliver glanced back over only Ari was gone, but he's pretty sure he knows where she is.

Oliver hadn't really come up to the roof of their hideout when it was first created. He really didn't have a reason to. It wasn't until Ari joined the team and he would have to find her when she wanted to hide did he actually come up here. He pushed open the door where he found her standing near the ledge looking out to the city.

"I've listened to all of your voice mails." he said walking over to stand beside her. "Each one as scary as the next." she didn't say anything and he looked over to her. "I'm sorry for leaving without telling you what was going on. I just thought the less you knew the better off you would be." still nothing and he let out a sigh because he wondered how he found himself surrounded by so many stubborn women who never made anything easy for him. "I'm sorry I missed hanging out with you on your birthday, that I really do regret."

"It's fine, whatever," she said before turning and heading for the door.

"Ari," she stopped and turned back to him.

"Oliver, too much is happening right now for me to care about this. We're good, be here, don't be here, I'm fine either way." she really wasn't. "I'm not a baby. I don't sit around wondering where you are." sometimes she did. Sometimes she was scared he wouldn't come back. "So you can go when you want, no matter who needs you here." she once again turned to leave.

"Ari, wait!" she pulled opened the door, and stopped, but didn't turn to him. "What happened?" Damn, she was going to cry if she didn't leave now. She was too tempted to tell him everything. To tell him about her mother and how at some point her mother could be ripping her away from all of this.

"Doesn't matter anymore." she said before leaving the man on the roof with his guilt. He actually expected her anger, but there was something else. Something he missed when he was gone and she was holding it in for some reason. He'd have to keep talking to her, in hopes that she'll let him back in.

Oliver looked back over the edge of the roof, and slid a hand over his face. He hoped his reunion with Katie would be better. When he came back down to the bunker, he glanced around in search of her. Soon his eyes turned to the door of a room that he created just for her. He walked over, pushing open the door and there she was. She was laying in the bed, eyes closed. He smiled before walking over to the crib where Robyn seemed to be sleeping as well. He knew she wouldn't be out for too much longer. He placed a hand on top of her head before walking over to the bed and sliding in beside her. Oliver's eyes looked over to his wife and he let out a sigh of both relief and contentment. It was this moment he always waited for whenever he was away, or out on a mission. The moment where he was back home and home was where ever she was.

Katie let out a sigh, and without a word slid over and wrapped herself around him, laying her head on his chest.

"I'm still mad at you." she muttered still half asleep. Oliver smiled closing his eyes as he brought his arms around her.

"I'm going to fix that." he sighed before drifting off asleep.

Oliver didn't realize he'd been asleep that long until he heard Katie's voice.

"Robyn, don't-" he heard her whisper, before he felt tiny hands on his face. Oliver cracked open an eyes to see Robyn with a toothy grin smiling down to him.

"Dah, dah," she called pulling herself out of Katie's arms toward Oliver. Katie turned, and saw Oliver opening his eyes.

"Sorry," she said.

"Obviously someone thought daddy needed to wake up." Oliver said pulling the girl into his arms and placing a kiss to her cheek before hugging her to his chest. "I missed you."

"She missed you too." Katie said and he looked over to her. "She was calling for you yesterday before bed." Oliver let out a sigh before pressing another kiss to her head.

"I'm sorry, sweetie" he said before turning to Katie who was looking at something on her phone. "What's that?" Katie let out a sigh before turning the phone so he could see. Oliver frowned because it was surveillance video of the front of their house. He watched as someone walked along the path to the front door, their head down and a hood over the head before bending over and sliding something underneath. "When did this happen?"

"Last night. I was on my way up to take a shower and then this-" turned and grabbed the folded envelope from the table beside the bed. "Was slipped under the door." Oliver looked at the envelope before turning back to meet her eyes. Oliver sat up a bit more before taking the envelope and opening it. He half expected to see black rose pedals, but instead it was just a sheet of paper. He pulled it out and read it's cryptic words whose meaning couldn't be clearer. He turned back to Katie whose eyes were once again on the screen. "The camera never catches their face. It's like they know its there." she let out a sigh before turning the video off and standing to her feet.

"I will talk to Steve." Oliver looked back down to the paper and sighed. "This definitely should not have happened. No one should be able to slip things under our door." he stood to his feet still cradling Robyn in his arms as he walked around to Katie. "I will have Felicity check out this note. Maybe there's something on it that can lead to whoever this is."

"I've already talked to Steve, threatened him and his team a bit. And Felicity already has the letter, this is just a copy." Katie said before taking Robyn from his arms. "We're also going to have to keep a better eye on Ari and her grades. While you were gone, there was an unannounced visit for Ari's social worker coming to voice concerns from Heather about Ari living here, being kidnapped, and around gunfire and her grades dropping. Heather has all of it documented and plans on using it if she gets out to get custody back." Oliver's eyes widened as he looked over to Katie. "I've given a call to my lawyer. I want to see what steps we need to take to adopt her." Katie moved around the man, but stopped and turned back to him. "As much as I would just like to leave after dropping that bomb, I just can't without seeing how you feel about it."

"Of course, I'm fine with it, but it has to be what Ari wants."

"Right, we will talk to her about it when things calm down." she turned to leave once again, but Oliver took a step forward to stop her.

"Twinkie, wait," she glanced back to him. "I'm sorry." Katie let out a sigh before walking over to him.

"Oliver an apology is only as good as the actions you put behind it. You keep apologizing for something I don't think you can stop doing which is why I'm not going to accept it." she shook her head. "I don't know how to handle this situation." she let out a snort. "Maybe I would if I remembered, huh?" she turned to leave once again

"It's not easy. Me, you, our life is not easy." she looked back over to him. "It never has been. But we work through it together. If I do something stupid or something you think is reckless you step in you get me in check. When you decide you want to save the world all on your own, I step in and we handle it together. That's how we work. We handle it together." she walked back over to stand in front of Oliver. "But if it gets too hard, then we're out."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah, just like that." he replied with a smile and Katie bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. She really wanted to be stubborn a bit longer and yet she felt as if she would forgive him. "Do you forgive me now?"

"That depends." she replied before turning and finally leaving the room. Oliver quirked a brow before hurrying after her.

"On what exactly?" he asked as they walked over to Felicity who looked between the pair.

Felicity turned her eyes to Katie. "Did you tell him?"

"Tell me what?" Oliver asked turning to Katie as well.

Oliver had no idea how they talked him into this. Oliver stood, his arms folded over his chest as he stood behind Felicity.

"You know even though you're not making a sound, I can still feel your nervousness just radiating off of you." Felicity said her eyes down on the monitor. "She's going to be fine."

"I would be more inclined to believe that if I was actually there with her." Oliver let out a huff as he looked down to the monitor.

"Oliver you just came back from breaking your friend of some prison on a very mission impossible type case and you've only had a couple of hours of sleep."

"I told the both of you that I'm fine." Oliver hissed. Oliver knew there were a lot of things contributing to his temper right now, and maybe lack of sleep was one of them, but he's positive he had enough focus to be back up for his wife right now.

"Is she there yet?" Ari asked walking over to stand beside Oliver. The girl shook her head. "I can't believe she's doing this." she turned and swat Oliver's arm. "How could you let her do this?" he turned to her with a glare.

"He didn't have much of a choice," Felicity said and Oliver turned back to her. He heard the amusement in her tone. "And she's going to be fine. She can do this."

"She can shake down some thug in the middle of day and not get caught or shot, huh?" Ari asked walking over to sit at the monitor beside Felicity. "Well I will believe it when I see it."

"Am I the only one wondering why we're not all in on this?" Evelyn asked walking over as well. "Why are we putting all of our hope on some rich doctor?" the girl realized how offensive that sounded and quickly turned to Oliver. "I didn't mean-" she shook her head. "I'm just saying, are you really sure we should be depending on her to do this?"

" _I'm here,"_ came the voice from the speaker and they all stepped in closer as Felicity pulled up the screen that was playing the video from the camera Katie was wearing. " _And my ears are burning. You guys still talking about me and this brilliant plan?"_

"Well we won't know how brilliant it is until you come back. Now focus." Oliver said before looking over to the other monitor. "Rory are you in place?" It was Rory who was her actual back up, much to Oliver's frustrations.

" _I am_." the man said from his place on the roof of the apartment building. " _So, are we sure this is going to work. Shaking down some thug in the middle of the day seems kind of risky."_

"So does attacking a CEO at a clinic opening in the middle of the day." Ari said. "But what do I know?" they all went silent as they focus on Katie's camera. Katie moved about the filthy apartment that was littered with trash. She brought a hand to her nose.

" _This place smells like ass."_ she said as she looked around.

Evelyn frowned slightly. "What is she doing?"

"She's looking for weapons." Oliver said his eyes never leaving the screen. "When questioning a suspect, and you're questioning them on their turf you want to hold as much power as possible."

" _Exactly_ ," Katie spoke as she reached under a nearby table. " _And the last thing I want is for this guy to surprise me by pulling a gun out of the cookie jar."_ she continued looking around. " _I'm going to finish sweeping the apartment, Rory let me know when you see him."_

"How certain are we that this Lewis guy can lead us to Church?" Ari asked turning to the wall monitor to see the mug shot photo of some grungy guy with a scar above his eye.

"He's one Church's men that were picked up during ACU raid on that factory Oliver and the others were taken to when he held them hostage."

"And the police released him?" Ari asked scrolling through the criminal report.

"Yep. He lawyered up and fed the judge some story about being forced to be there."

"And they believed him?" Evelyn asked and Felicity just sighed with a nod. "Isn't that a fine justice system we have."

"He's actually being watched by police in hopes that he makes contact with Church again." Felicity said.

"Wait, what?" Oliver said and Felicity's eyes widened as she turned to Oliver. "You didn't tell me that." Oliver shook his head before walking back over to the speaker. "Did you know this guy is being surveilled by the police before you and Felicity cooked up this plan?"

" _I did, but I was hoping you didn't find out about that until after this was over._ " Katie sighed. " _It's fine."_

"Nothing about this is fine. The risk on all of this just got multiplied. I want you out of there."

" _Why?" she asked as she moved over to the window and pulled closed the curtains._

Oliver let out low growl. This was one of the reasons he absolutely knew this idea was bad. It was his wife and the fact that she never listened to him.

"I just told you that it's risky. Too risky and if you're caught-."

" _Don't worry, I won't be caught, and I'll come back to you." she said with a snort and she could almost picture the look on Oliver's face. "You're going to trust me now."_

"I do trust you, I just-" Oliver clenched his jaw as he watched her close the curtain on the last window, bringing the room into darkness. Felicity's fingers quickly typed as she switched the video to night vision so they could see a bit clearer.

" _He's here and he's on his way up." Rory said._

Oliver felt his nervousness even more. "Get out of there now or I'm coming to get you."

" _Oh Liver, be quiet and let me do this," she whispered before moving to hide._

Oliver groaned taking a step back, pausing for a moment before shaking his head and walking off. Ari turned and ran after him.

"You're not seriously going to get her, are you?" Ari asked and Oliver stopped and turned to her. "Dude you just risked your life and our lives breaking John out of that prison."

"That was different."

"You're right, it is. She's about to question some low life while you were trying to evade heavily armed guards." Ari took a step toward him. "Oliver, it's the fact that you knew she could do this that you actually let her go in the first place. You're scared and so am I, but she can do this. She's the Guardian. She's our Guardian and she can do this. Now I'm going to go back and watch because I feel like I could actually be learning something." with that Ari turned and head back toward the others. Oliver stood there, his thumb mindlessly sliding across his wedding band before he relented and and walked back over to the others to watch as well.

"What's happening?" he asked as he walked back up to view the screen. No one said anything and he didn't need them to as he looked down to the man's bloody face as he lay on the floor.

" _Let's try this again, from the top." Katie's modulated voice spoke from above the man. "Tell me where I can find Tobias Church."_

" _You have no idea who you're messing with. Church will kill me if I snitch." Katie let out a light laugh as she dropped on the floor in front of the man and he looked at her warily._

_"You know what surprising?" she asked. "You assuming death is the worst thing that could happen to you." she watches as his eyes veered to the couch behind her. "I found the gun hidden in the couch cushion. Horrible hiding spot by the way." she pointed toward the kitchen. "Found the one hidden in the cereal box. The one in the drawer next to your bed, the one in your closet." she let out another laugh. "I even found the one you hid underneath your toilet."_

_"I'm not saying anything," he said. "Do whatever you want, because I'm almost positive the punishment from Tobias Church will be worse." they both sat there for a moment in silence._

_"Challenge accepted." Katie said._

The video feed suddenly dropped and the team stood there in confusion.

"What the hell just happened?" Oliver asked and Felicity glanced over to him. "She cut the camera?" he growled going over to the speaker. "Guardian, can you hear me?" he paused and waited for a response.

"She took out the comlink." Felicity said as she typed trying to see if she could turn it back on. "Ragman, do you have eyes on Guardian?"

" _Not at the moment, but I thought the plan was I be look out and intervene if needed." he replied. "Should I go in?"_

Felicity turned to Oliver who looked over to her before turning to the blank screen. He slid a hand over his eyes. He knew what she was doing. Knew her questioning methods were probably something she didn't want the others to see.

"What's the call Oliver?" Felicity asked. Oliver took a step back and turned around so he couldn't see the eyes looking to him for the answer he wasn't sure about. On one hand, he could trust his wife who he knew was capable of getting out of this situation. On the other hand, this was still new to her, and there were so many risks, so many things that could go wrong. "Oliver?" Oliver clenched his jaw and turned around and had only opened his mouth when Rory said the words he did not want to hear.

" _Something's wrong." Rory went to the edge of the roof. "Cops, lots and lot of cops are pulling up in front of the building."_

With a few clicks of the keyboard, Felicity let out a sigh. "Someone called the cops. Reported the sounds of a struggle coming from Lewis' apartment. And since his name is flagged in the system with connections to Church." Felicity shook her head before turning to Oliver who turned meeting her eyes. "Oliver, maybe if we-"

"Ragman, get in there and get her out, now!" there was no hesitation with the order.

" _I'm on it." Rory said about to swing into the apartment, but he came to a sliding halt when the voice came through the comlink._

_"Don't!" Came Katie's voice. "I'm fine." there was a slight tension in her voice as she spoke. "He doesn't have an exact location, but he gave me an area. Felicity, I'm sending it to you now. Ragman, meet me at the rendezvous point."_

"Are you alright?"

" _I'm fine. We're coming back now."_ the link ended and Oliver let out a groan before turning to Felicity.

"It's still a lot of area, but it's searchable." she said before glancing over to Oliver. "I'll set the search up for Church's van and I'll let you know if it comes up with anything." Oliver just nodded and without a word stalked off.

Rory looked over to Katie as they rode the elevator down to the bunker. She tilted her arm to get a better look at the cut across her shoulder.

"First rule, always assume the target is armed." Rory said and Katie looked over to him with a quirked brow. "It's a-" he shook his head. "Never mind." Katie just dropped her eyes back to the cut. "I get the feeling Oliver is going to have an issue with this." she placed a hand back over it to slow the bleeding.

"Always assume the target is armed, but if you forget, make sure you know how to disarm him." she said taking a deep breath. She was completely sore and she knew she was a bit bruised from the fight, but it was familiar. It was something she didn't question or was confused about.

"And how did you..." Rory let the question linger as Katie turned toward the doors.

"Let's just hope he never dreamed of being a hand model." she said just as the doors opened. She'd only taken a step off before Oliver appeared in front of her. His eyes zeroing in on the blood seeping from her through the hand holding her arm. "Would you believe that I cut myself shaving?" zero amusement showed on Oliver's face.

Katie soon found herself in a very unexpected spot. She sat on the metal table in the medical area of the bunker and watched as Oliver meticulously stitched her arm. She watched his complete focus on the stitch that actually looked perfect. He still hadn't said anything to her which she assumed meant he was really upset.

"Who taught you how to stitch?" she asked and his eyes only flicked up to her for second before looking back to her arm. He didn't say anything and she rolled her eyes. "You know of all the bad things your brain concocted about what could happen, I bet a cut on the arm wasn't one of them." he still didn't say anything and she watched as he finished up the stitch before cutting the thread. He turned and grabbed a bandage and placed it over the stitches and Katie hissed slightly as he pressed a bit harder than necessary. Without a word he turned as if to leave and Katie hopped off the table. "You didn't expect that fear, did you?" he stopped walking and turned back to her. "You thought you were fine, rationally you knew I could it, but then the danger got closer, and then your heart races, and you start doubting everything." she walked over to stand in front of him. "You were gone for a day, and I couldn't stop worrying that someone was going to show up at the door, or call saying that I would never see you again." Oliver let out a sigh and dropped his head. "And then I saw you, and all the fear and anxiety went away and rational thinking came back and I remembered that you're really good at this." Oliver lifted his eyes back to her. She placed her hands on his chest, and felt as his arms wrapped around her, pulling her to him.

"You're really good at this too." he admitted to her and to himself. "But I think you're right. I don't think I will ever not worry about you when you're out there. That's why the next time you do something as dangerous as what you did today, I will be your back up."

"Fine, well the next time you break someone out of prison, I will be your back up." She replied and he smiled as he brought his lips to hers. They knew there were a million things they should be worried about right now, but it was as if they weren't in control at the moment. It was a need...a desire, that lived inside of them that always seemed to steer them to moments like this.

When Oliver's tongue swept inside of her mouth and she released a soft whimper. It's when her fingers slip underneath his shirt touching the heat of his skin does Oliver seem to forget rhyme and reason. He slides down, wrapping his arm around her, lifting her from the floor and walking her over to sit back on the table. In the next moment, his shirt came over his head and is tossed to the floor before his lips latch back on to hers, as his fingers move to the bottom of her shirt.

"Whoa!" the voice yelled and the couple pulled apart, turning to see Felicity whose back was now turned. "Sorry, I so did not expect to interrupt, but-" she shook her head. "You two are aware you're not alone, right?" Oliver let out a sigh as he reached down to pick up his shirt and pulled it back on before turning back to Katie, seeing that look of frustration he's sure was on his face right now.

"You can turn around Felicity," Oliver said. Felicity cautiously turned with a nervous smile as she walked over. "Do you have something?"

"No, the search is still in progress, but-" she turned to Katie. "Your phone was ringing." she handed the phone to Katie who looked down to the number and sighed.

"Damn," she looked back up to Oliver. "I forgot to cancel the birthday party. A couple dozen kids are going to be showing up in like an hour. What do we do?" Oliver looked at her for a moment.

"I think we have a birthday party." he replied and Katie looked at him in confusion. "There's no telling how long Felicity's search could take and I don't want Ari's entire birthday weekend to be ruined."

"Are you sure? It doesn't seem right with Rene missing." Katie said. There was a beep from Felicity's phone and they turned to her.

"Well that may be changing." she said with a smile as she looked up to them. "I got a hit on the van." Oliver nodded before turning back to Katie.

"You're about to say something I don't like." She said.

"You and Ari go to the party. I will get Rene."

"What about that whole cute us being each other's back up when the other does something dangerous. Has that changed?"

"It hasn't, but I'm not breaking anyone out of prison right now." she shook her head and he brought his arms around her. "Ari deserves a birthday party." Katie turned back to him. "She deserves some kind of normal." they turned at more footsteps to see Ari.

"Felicity, I think we got him." she said turning from the woman to Katie and Oliver who were staring at her. "What?"

Arianna Locke woke up the morning of her birthday expecting to feel different. She didn't expect that feeling to hit her days later as she stood in a hotel room staring at herself in a mirror. It was strange how she couldn't tear her eyes away from the girl looking back at her. The girl who was both a vigilante and a coward. She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of her phone and when she walked over she saw the text from Katie asking her when she was coming down. Ari let out a sigh before lifting her head and glancing around the room. It was a gift for her and some her friends from school to come back up her after the party for a sleepover where they would watch movies and order room service. She was probably going to uninvite them once she got down there since she had no intention on being at this stupid birthday party for long. She hated that Oliver and Katie wouldn't let her stay at the bunker when Oliver went to retrieve Rene. She turned back to the mirror and straightened out her high collard long black dress. It was Thea's stupid idea to make it a costume party, and at the time Ari thought it would be cool to have a Famous people in history costume party which is why she was currently dressed as Marie Curie.

"Why the hell would pick Marie Curie?" she said to her reflection. She shook her head at the dress that barely showed any skin which she didn't think about when she decided to go for the historically accurate look instead of sexy. "Jamie is going to laugh at you," she just let out a huff before stalking out of the room.

Katie should've known better than to trust Thea with something as simple as picking up her costume because somehow her Ruth Bader Ginsburg became Wilma Flinstone. Now she had to walk around the party in flimsy toga that was entirely too short. Katie glanced around the party, in search of Ari among the crowd of teenagers. It was when her eyes spotted someone she didn't expect near the doors that lead to the hotel's garden area that was opened up for the party as well. He nudged his head out the door before turning and Katie stood there for a moment before going after him. When she walked out of the door, she didn't see him immediately. For a moment she thought she may have hallucinated seeing him, but then she spotted him across the garden. With a roll of her eyes, she sifted through the rowdy teenagers who ran about before appearing in front of him.

"Wilma Flinstone, huh?" he asked and Katie just shook her head, but she didn't say anything. She looks at him for a moment, her mind going back to the last time they saw each other. That moment before she stepped on the plane back home.

"Hello Rick. I thought you'd long gone by now."

"Yeah, well I couldn't leave without stopping by to see you bird." she shook her head at the nickname. "So, how are you doing?"

"The real answer to that question is complicated." she laughed with a shrug. "But I'm good. It's all just-" she let out a sigh as she looked up to his eyes. "Not the life I expected."

"I think we all wake up with that realization."

"Well the difference is you know how it all unfolded." she muttered before glancing around the garden once again. "I think I should thank you," she turned back to him. "For helping Oliver."

"I promised I'd always be there if you needed me." he said and Katie smiled.

"Well I'm glad this is one promise you decided to keep." she said and she wished she hadn't almost immediately after she said it. She shook her head. "I should get back to the party." she turned to leave, but he caught her hand and she let out a sigh before turning back to him. "Flag—"

"If you tell me you're happy, I'll turn around and walk away." Rick said, "But if you tell me-"

"I love Oliver," she said interrupting him before he could say too much. "I'm in love with Oliver and he's annoying and a headache, but he and my daughter and Ari, they make me happy." she took a step toward the man. "You promised me you would get me home, and you did. What you didn't know, hell, what I didn't know was that it was him." she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "You have no idea how thankful I am for you and what you did for me." Rick silently stared for a moment before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"Goodbye, bird." he whispered before pulling back his hand and walking off, disappearing somewhere in the dark garden. Katie stood there for a moment before turning about to walk back inside, but she froze the moment she saw Oliver standing there looking at her. She walked over to him without a word, trying to gauge from his expression just what he was thinking.

"So how much of that did you hear?" she asked. Oliver didn't say anything for a moment, but he did take step toward her and slid his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him. His lips descended upon hers, a soft whimper escaping her as she melted into his embrace. Katie knew she had to be the clearheaded one, had to be rational. She pulled back breathless. "We can't do this at this party full of teenagers." she heard him laugh as she looked up to his eyes. "Rene?"

"He's safe, at the bunker. He's pretty beat up, but he's ok."

Katie began to pull away. "Right, I will grab my jacket and then-" Oliver pulled her back to him and she looked up to the man in confusion. "What?"

"I've made other arrangements. He's being taken care of." Oliver said and he smiled at the confused look on her face. "I'm sure." he looked around the party. "Where's Ari?" he looked at the faces of all of the costumed teens. "I didn't know there were going to be this many people here."

"Of course you didn't." she said and he brought his eyes back to her. "Just like you didn't know you were supposed to wear a costume." he laughed as he took a step back to give the woman a once over. His eyes going from the red wig, down the toga to the white strapped sandals.

"I have no idea what the theme of this party is supposed to be." he glanced around seeing a few kids dressed up as ninja turtles. He just laughed before turning back to Katie. "But I think you make a beautiful Wilma. I don't think I could pull off Fred though." she just laughed before turning and walking away. "Hey, Wilma!" he called before chasing after her.

When Ari finally entered the party, she was actually shocked at the turn out. She's almost positive half of these people have never spoken to her before. She figures no one would dare turn down an invitation to a birthday party thrown by the mayor and his wife. She glanced around the party for some of her real friends which was hard with all of these people. They could be anywhere. She pulled out her phone before glancing over and seeing Oliver and Katie near the food table and she hurried over.

"Hey," they turned to her with smiles. "Did you find Rene?"

"Yeah, he's fine." Oliver said his eyes trailing over the girl trying to figure out who she was supposed to be. "Don't tell me, you're-" he racked his brain and both Katie and Ari shook their head.

"She's Marie Curie." Katie said and Oliver turned to her with a quirked brow. "C'mon, I helped you write that paper on her for your history class." he still looked totally confused and she just shook her head as she placed a hand on his cheek. "Oh you're so lucky you're good looking."

"You know what Twinkie-" he brought a hand around her waist, pulling her to him and she squealed with laughter.

"Hey!" Ari said and they turned to her. "None of your old people PDA at my party. Get a room." her phone buzzed and she looked down to see a text and just walked away without another word.

"Did she just call us old?" Katie turned back to Oliver. "Are we now the lame, old parents at the party we used to make fun of when we were younger?" they glanced around to see indeed there were teens staring at them and laughing. "That's just great."

"Well maybe she's right." Oliver said and Katie turned to him with furrowed brow. "Not about the old and lame, we're totally cool parents."

"I don't think cool parents get to call themselves cool. That just makes them even less cool." Katie replied and Oliver laughed before placing a kiss to her lips. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he let out a groan as he pulled back to see who it was. "Is it about Rene?"

"No, just-" he looked back up to her. "Give me a minute, I have to take this." Katie nodded before he pulled out of her grasp and headed for the doors that lead to the lobby. Katie stood there for a moment, unsure what that was about, but shook it off before turning and seeing her sister in law laughing and chatting up someone she hoped wasn't a student from SC prep. Thea turned and spotted Katie before saying something to the guy and walking over.

"Hi Ms. Monroe, may I say I'm glad you chose the more modest version of this costume." Katie laughs and Thea just shook her head. "Also thanks for totally hijacking my costume. How the hell is Wilma Flinstone an important person in history?"

"I have no idea but at least her costume isn't some frumpy judge's robe that barely shows any skin."

"Everyone isn't here to pick up guys and you better pray that guy you were just flirting with can vote for your brother in the mayoral election." Katie said turning and grabbing her cup of punch.

"He's one of Ari's classmates older brothers. Just graduated college, and is heading to law school." Thea recounted smiling at the guy who was stealing glances at her. "Where'd Ollie go?"

"He had a call." Katie says glancing back to the door. "He should be back soon. I want to give Ari her present."

"She's going to totally freak." Thea said looking over to Katie. "I can't believe you guys actually bought her car."

"It took a lot of convincing for your brother who is still freaking out about her getting older." Katie glanced over to the doors. "I should go see what's taking him so long." Katie looked over to Thea who was still giving cutesy looks to her law student and she just shook her head. "Just go." Katie let out a sigh before walking over and pushing the door back into the lobby. It was nice break from the loud music and dancing teenagers. She got a few looks from people she passed and she knows it's because of this ridiculous costume.

After a quick once over of the lobby, she didn't see Oliver anywhere. She walked over to the front desk, the clerk pulling on a bright smile.

"How can I help you Mrs. Queen?" the young girl asked. The girl glanced down to the other clerk who smiled as well and Katie looked between the two in confusion.

"Uh, I'm looking for my husband. He came out here a little while ago." Katie watched as the young girl seemed to smile even wider. "Uh, have you seen him?"

"Um, let me see," the girl glanced around the lobby, before looking over to the other clerk. "Hey Miller, you wouldn't by chance have seen Mayor Queen, have you?" the young man walked over to stand beside her, still smiling as he looked over to Katie.

"Actually I did." Miller said before reaching down and grabbing something that Katie soon realized was a small envelope. "He asked me to give this to you." Katie looked down to the envelope with a quirk brow before taking it and seeing her name on the front in Oliver's terrible handwriting. Her mouth curled into a slight smile as she tore open the envelope only to find a hotel room key card. She just shook her head before looking back up to the two clerks.

"Thank you for your help."

"You have great rest of your evening, Mrs. Queen." the young girl said as Katie turned. She looked over to the doors that lead to the party, before looking up ahead to the elevators. Without a second thought she turned back to the clerks and pulled off that awful red wig before shaking free her hair.

"Can you toss this for me?" she asked sliding the wig over the counter before running her finger through her hair. She didn't hesitate as she hurried over to catch the elevator before the doors could close.

Katie stepped off of the elevator, and glanced down to the room number scribbled inside of the envelope and trekked down the hall. She couldn't help the butterflies in her stomach as she neared the room. It was the mixture of nervousness and anticipation and they were warring with the other. She soon arrived in front of the door, and for the life of he she couldn't just reach forward to unlock it. It was this very moment did the doubt decide to creep back in her brain telling her that she shouldn't do this, that this wasn't her life, that she didn't deserve this moment. Her eyes dropped down to the key card in her hand, the hand that held a gorgeous wedding ring given to her by the man who had wrapped himself around her heart and she doesn't think that would change if she did have all of her memories.

And so she stopped overthinking, slipped the key card into the door and when she heard that click she pushed open the door and walked inside. A smile came to her lips as she walked into the room that was beautifully decorated with candles all around, soft music playing from somewhere. She walked further inside the large room, her eyes searching for the man. She found him standing in a dining room in front of a table that held some food and a ice bucket with chilling champagne. He grabbed two glasses of champagne and walked over to her.

"So either you decided to take Ari's advice and actually get us a room," she asked as she moved to meet him half way. "Or this was your super secret surprise." she took one of the glasses from him and he didn't hesitate to steal a quick kiss.

"Well I wanted to do the impossible." Oliver said the smile on Katie's face took his breath away and he couldn't help but to return it. "You see this room is our own little world. Here there is no Mayor, or vigilante, or dirty diapers, or annoying cousins who call us old." he slowly brought his lips to hers. "Here, it's just you and me. No distractions or interruptions." she smiled as she leaned forward, her lips brushing against his. "And no reason at all for anyone to have keep quiet."

"Well then-" Katie took a step back and brought her glass to her lips and downed the contents of her glass before sitting it down and turning back to the man. "I don't think we should waste another second." Oliver smiled before drinking his champagne and sliding his glass on the table, and without warning picked up the woman bridal style, and carried her to the bedroom.

The night wasn't terrible, Ari thought. A normal night, with her friends at a party actually made her forget the craziness of her life. At the moment, she and her friend Hannah were laughing at some of the weird costumes as they walked over for more punch.

"Aht Aht!" Thea suddenly appeared putting her hands around the punch bowl. "You can't drink from that now. Someone has spiked it. Another bowl is coming soon." Ari just rolled her eyes before they turned back to the party.

Hannah nudged her shoulder, "So have you seen Jamie, yet?"

"No, I know he's here. He's already posted a couple of pictures to instagram." Ari says looking around. The place was huge and filled with people. The dim lighting didn't help either.

"Just text him already." Hannah laughed before her own phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket and groaned. "It's my mom again probably wondering when I'm coming home."

"You're not staying for the sleepover?" Ari asked and Hannah looked over and shook her head.

"My mom's being a total bitch about the whole thing. I told her there would be adult supervision. I gotta take this before she shows up." Ari gave the girl a nod before watching her friend head out of the hall.

"Hey," Thea appeared at Ari's side. "You ok?"

"None of them are coming to the sleepover." Ari said with a shake of her head. "They all want to, but their parents don't." she turned to Thea who let out a sigh. "Do you think it has to do with my guardian's who are someone's target every other week?" Thea let out a snort before she brought an arm around the teen who dropped her head to her shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't, I was going to cancel anyway. I wanted to see Rene, make sure he was ok, and see what Church did to him." Ari sighed. Ari felt her phone vibrate and when she looked down to the screen, her eyes went wide. "This can't be real."

"What's wrong?" Thea asked and Ari turned to her before turning back to the party and stalking off. "Ari?"

Ari maneuvered her way through the party, and slipped out the doors to the garden. Her eyes scanning the area before she saw a group of guys huddled around. She hurried over, pushing her way through to see what they were looking at and the moment she did, she wished she hadn't. There standing there for everyone to see was Jamie, and he was currently making out with the bane of Ari's existence...Evelyn Sharp. For the better part of the night Ari pretended that she had a hold on her sanity. That the visit with her mom hadn't totally messed with her head and through a wrench in her life. In this moment, Ari felt that thin thread of sanity suddenly snap and before she could talk her self out of it, her feet were moving.

"You're such a bitch, you know that!" Evelyn and Jamie pulled apart both turning to Ari. Jamie stumbled a bit, a sign that he was a bit inebriated. Evelyn though looked over to Ari, a smirk on her face.

"Ari, hey, what's-" Jamie took a step, but it didn't quite land and he ended up stumbling face down on the ground gaining laughs from the onlookers. Ari shook her head before turning back to Evelyn. The two teens stared at each other for a moment before Ari began walking, and Evelyn did the same until the two were standing toe to toe.

"Nice costume," Evelyn said and that was when Ari stopped thinking and without a word decked the girl right in the nose. Evelyn stumbled back holding her bleeding nose before turning a glare to Ari.

"If you wanted me to beat your ass, all you had to do was ask." Ari said before running to tackle the girl.

Oliver rolled over on his back, his chest heaving as he tries to calm his breathing. He glanced over to his wife who rolled from her stomach to her back, her breathing just a ragged as his. She closed her eyes and pulled the sheet up to cover her.

"You still with me?" he asked a bit breathy, and she lightly laughed as she let out a deep breath before opening her eyes and turning to the man with a smile she thinks may now be permanently etched into her face.

"I am with you, Mr. Queen," she sighed. She slid closer to him, tangling herself around his body as she lays her head on his chest. Oliver's hand tenderly slides along her back and rests on her hip. "You still with me, because I'm not done with you yet." she pressed a kiss to his chest and she heard the rumble of deep laughter. She propped her self up, so her face hovered above his, that smile never leaving her face as she looks into his eyes. "I want to ask you a question, and I want you to be completely honest with me." Oliver's brow furrowed a bit, but he gave a nod. "How was...it?" the confused look on his face let her know that he had no idea what she was talking about and she was afraid she would have to be more specific. She let out a sigh, hoping he would get it and soon his brows rose and she knows he did.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Humor me. I've just had this anxiety that when we finally did the deed, it would be different...because I'm not the same person, or at least I don't feel like I am." she shook her head. "Actually never mind. I'm not going to bring you into my neurosis." she pulled away, but Oliver's hand moved to her back to keep her in place.

"It was perfect, Mrs. Queen, as it always is." he said before bringing his lips up to her. His hand slid around her, tugging her gently until she maneuvered herself above him fully. She pulled back once again, placing a hand on his cheek.

"I love you so much." she whispered. "I wish this moment could last forever." she turned away. "I wish even more we could figure out how to do this in our own bed." Oliver laughed and she turned back to him with a smile.

"You weren't that loud." he said as his hand snaked around her. "Plus the walls at home aren't thin. We should be fine." she chuckled as he dropped her lips to his.

"I guess we will just have to find out." she muttered against his lips. They assumed another round would commence, but a vibrating noise interrupting the moment. Katie pulled back and looked down to Oliver. "Is that your phone?" Oliver frowned slightly as he glanced around the room for the phone, but didn't see it right away. He turned back to Katie who was all too prepared to not move. "I didn't think I would have to give you back to the world so soon."

"It's probably nothing I can't get out of." Oliver said as Katie slid back on to bed with a groan. "Just give me one second." Oliver stood from the bed, and Katie looked over to the man who walked from the room with a smile. She hated to see him walk away, but the view wasn't bad. She heard his voice when he answered the phone, but she couldn't quite hear what he was saying. He soon came back into the room, and the look on his face let her know that he wasn't happy.

"What's wrong?"

"There was a fight at the party." Oliver began pulling back on his clothes. "Ari and Evelyn, and now the hotel manager has shut down the party and is sending everyone home. Katie sat up about to get dressed as well. "Wait, you don't have to. I still have hope that we can have this moment a little while longer. I just need to go down there and make sure there weren't any damages and make sure Ari is alright, then I'll be back up."

"We're going to have to deal with this whole Ari, Evie thing at some point."

"I know, but it won't be tonight. I'm sending everyone to their corners and I will be spending the rest of the evening with my wife." he pulled on his shirt before walking over to her and placing a kiss to her lips. "I shouldn't be gone long."

"I'm holding you to that, Liver." she said and with one more kiss he was gone.

Katie let out a sigh as she glanced around the empty room. She spotted a bag inside of the closet and stood to her feet, wrapping the sheet around her. Inside the bag she found clothes for both her and Oliver. She grabbed the pajamas shorts, and a shirt and slipped them on before wandering around the room. Soon she had another glass of champagne, and she plucked a piece of fruit from the tray before going out to stand on the balcony. There were still moments of this new life she couldn't believe. Her standing in some fancy hotel waiting for her husband so they could screw each others brains out was one of them. She smiled to herself as she thought of Oliver, now suddenly very anxious for his arrival. There was a knock at the door and she turned in confusion, before a smile came to her face.

"Did you forget the key card?" she laughed as she headed for the door. She pulled open the door, the smile dropping from her face as she sees someone she definitely did not expect.

"You probably don't remember who I am."

"John Constantine." Katie whispers still in a bit of shock. She looks at the man for a moment before looking down to herself, remembering she wasn't wearing much. She pulled an arm around herself before turning back to the man. "Why are you here?"

"Well, luv I-" he turned with a frown to someone in the hall. "What are you doing? I thought we agreed?"

"No, you just ran away before I could argue," said the dark haired woman who appeared at Constantine's side. Katie looked at the woman in confusion before turning to Constantine.

"Look I don't know what this is, but you can't be here." she shook her head, not liking that feeling in the pit of her stomach at the sight of a man from her past years of hell. She made to grab the door to close it, but the woman took a step forward. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Queen, but this is for your own good." Zatanna said, and Katie looked confused when the woman started muttering something in a language that seemed familiar. She never got a chance to question anything before she felt the entire world swallow her up in darkness.

"And there was your chance to make a better first impression." Constantine said walking inside to pick Katie up off of the floor.

Oliver stood at the passenger side of the car staring down to Ari who held an ice pack against her lip.

"We are going to talk about this tomorrow. Tonight you cool off and we will discuss what happens next."

"What does that mean?" Ari asked turning back to him. "This wasn't my fault. That bitch pushed me too far. She knew I liked Jamie, and because she's sadistic and hell bent on tormenting me, she decided to make out with him at my birthday party."

"And what did fighting her accomplish. Other than the numerous videos now circulating of you fighting at a party." Ari shook her head and turned away. "Ari we just talked to your principal, convincing him that your violent behavior was just a one time thing, and now-"

"You can't even take my side." she shook her head. "Whatever fine, can I go home now?" Oliver looked down to the girl for a moment before kneeling down. "I wanna go home."

"Ari I need you to tell me what's going on with you." he said and she didn't say anything as she refused to look at him. "Something happened while I was gone, I know it. Let me help you."

"You can't." she muttered still avoiding his eyes. "I just want to go home." she dropped her head back on the seat and closed her eyes. Oliver let out a sigh before standing to his feet and closing the door. He walked over to Thea who had her phone pressed to her ear.

"No, I understand, thanks." she said before turning to Oliver. "The viral video of the Mayor's kid online is going to be a pain our asses tomorrow."

"I don't really care about this blowing back on me." Oliver said before glancing back to the car. "I just want to know what the hell happened." he turned back to Thea who had a look. "What?"

"Look, I don't know Evelyn that well, but from what I can tell from what happened, she wanted Ari see them kissing. She wanted to upset Ari." Oliver let out a sigh as he turned away. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm not quite sure yet." he glanced once again to Ari. "You're sure you ok to watch them tonight?" he turned back to his sister who let out a snort.

"Ollie, we're not having this conversation again. Just go back to your wife and do things I never want to hear about. Ari and Robyn will be fine." Oliver smiled before placing a kiss to Thea's cheek.

"You're the best." Oliver said before hurrying back into the hotel.

The moment Oliver stepped inside of the room, he didn't hesitate to head back to the bedroom, already pulling off his shirt. He stopped when he didn't see Katie in the bed. "Twinkie?" he looked around the room, heading over to the bathroom, and flicking the lights on to find it empty. "Twinkie, are you here?!" he walked back out into the room before his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket, and looked down to Constantine's number before bringing it to his ear.

" _Ok, so this time I actually remembered to call."_


	13. The Choice

**Chapter 13**

**The Choice**

_"Guilt upon the conscience, like rust upon iron,_

_both defiles and consumes it,_

_gnawing and creeping into it,_

_as that does which at last eats out the very heart and_

_substance of the metal. "_

_-Robert South_

* * *

It took Oliver a full minute to compute what was happening. The phone was pressed to his ear, his eyes were on the disheveled bed that he was in with his wife not too long ago. His phone rang, and he had to tear himself away from her, away from the fantasy they created in this room. In that time away, she was taken and it was like he could feel the anger pulsating underneath his skin.

" _You still there, mate?"_ came Constantine's voice and Oliver sneered turning away from the bed, away from the memory of happiness that was taken away too quickly.

"Constantine, where is my wife?" Oliver asked, his voice trying to remain as calm as possible.

" _She's safe, fine, ten fingers and toes. We just didn't see a reason to hold this off any longer. I'm sure we all will be glad to finally nip this thing in the bud, am I right?"_ Oliver grit his teeth and Constantine nervously cleared his throat, not able to see the man's face, but he could feel the heat of aggression through the phone. " _So, yeah, I called because we're going to need your help to do this, and since we all want the same thing-"_

"I want my wife standing in front of me. Not to be taken the moment I turn my back. I told you that I would help you and you pull this!" Oliver shook his head. "I want to see her."

" _That's why I called you mate, history has told us we can't do this without you. Go to the closet."_ Constantine said, and Oliver turned to the closet in confusion.

"Why am I going to the closet?" Oliver asked walking over to the door to the closet warily.

" _You'll see once you open it."_

Oliver stared at the door for a moment, a bit unsure, before he finally reached over and pulled open the door his eyes going wide at what he saw. The door didn't reveal a closet at all, but a doorway to some place else. It looked like a large old mansion of some kind. Oliver's brow furrowed as he took a step inside. The door slammed closed behind him and Oliver looked back, now suddenly nervous.

"Oliver," Oliver turned at the voice to see Bruce standing there and Oliver felt that anger again and stalked toward the man. "Wait, wait-" Bruce backed away holding up his hands. "I know you're upset-"

"Upset doesn't even describe how I feel right now!" Oliver snapped angrily. "Where is she?!" Bruce let out a sigh before nudging his head for the man to follow him. Bruce turns, walking off and Oliver took a moment before going after him. They walked down the halls, and Oliver couldn't help but let his eyes trail over the oil paintings that covered the walls. "What is this place?"

"This is Zatanna's place." Bruce said over his shoulder. "I believe you've been here before. Just not above the basement." They came to a door that lead to a flight of stairs that Bruce climbed down, Oliver still close behind him. When they reached the bottom of the steps, Oliver stopped as he looked up to a team of heroes that he'd only seen assembled once before and that was when they planned to kill his wife.

Diana took a step forward, "Oliver, I understand you're upset." Oliver turned to the woman. "I too believe this could've been done differently," she glanced over to Zatanna who stood beside her before turning back to Oliver. "But we're here now, ready to just get this over with."

Oliver didn't say anything. He was suddenly nervous. He knew this moment would come, expected it, but he still couldn't brush away the fear that this wouldn't end the way he wanted it.

"Fine," Oliver said looking between the eyes of a team of heroes he would probably never completely trust again. "But after tonight, you all will never come near me or my family," he turned to Bruce who he hoped had changed. "That includes you." he turned and walked over to stand in front of Zatanna. "Where is she?"

Thea Queen just wanted one night where she didn't have to put out fires to save Oliver's political persona. The current fire was videos of Ari and Evelyn fighting now circulating online, and the comments associated with the videos that blame the mayor's parenting of the teen.

"No, he's not going to give a comment. This is his life, this is his family and he doesn't owe anyone insight into that. It's the fact that if this wasn't the mayor's kid, it wouldn't be getting this much attention." Thea let out sigh. "It's late, let's just see what we're dealing with tomorrow." she ended the call and let her head drop back on the couch as she closes her eyes.

"This is bad isn't it?" came a voice from behind her. Thea opened her eyes and looked back to see Ari who was changed in her pajamas. The teen walked over and took a seat in the chair beside Thea. "This could be bad for him, for both of them."

"Oliver doesn't care about how the city feels about what happened, he cares about you and what happened tonight." Ari shook her head, turning away. "What is it with you and Evelyn?"

"I don't even know." Ari said honestly turning back to Thea. " Look I get they all had these prior assumptions about me, that I was some spoiled rich kid, but I've proven that isn't me, and yet she always tries to get to me. The things she says about me, about my parents. I'm surprised I haven't kicked her ass before tonight."

"But Ari, I get people getting under your skin, but you can't let them get the best of you like that. Have you talked to Oliver about any of this?" Ari scoffed and turned away.

"I'm not a kid. I don't need to run to Oliver because some bitch said some nasty things to me." she shook her head. "I was handling it. But she just had to bring Jamie into it." she looked back over to Thea and let out a sigh. "I really liked him and she knew that. She wanted to hurt me, and then I wanted to hurt her."

"And what did any of it really accomplish? Now there's a video of you fighting. A video that doesn't tell the whole story, just two girls fighting over a boy." Thea let out a sigh and shrugged. "I get it, you like him, but he kissed her too. Fighting her doesn't change it or suddenly erase that it happened. "

"Maybe it was stupid."

"It was stupid." Thea chuckled lightly. "Here's some advice I hope you take. Never fight another girl over a boy. If he can't see how great you are, then just forget him." Thea looked down to her phone. "It's late, and you should get to bed. You have school tomorrow." Ari groaned at the thought of having to face everyone at school after that disaster of a party.

"Can't I just skip?"

"I don't think so. You're going to have to face the music sooner or later." Thea said as the girl stood to her feet. "Ollie and Katie will be here tomorrow morning as well so expect a lot of talking and practice apologizing." Ari let out a dramatic sigh before heading back upstairs.

Thea turned about to head into the kitchen to make tea, when she heard the sound of the front door opening. She quickly moved to the hall, surprised to see Felicity standing there out of breath.

"Felicity, what's going on?"

"Is Oliver here? I tried calling his phone and I didn't get an answer.

"No, he surprised Twinkie with a night at the Ritz. He said he was going to be offline for the rest of the night." Thea said walking over to the woman. "Please don't tell me we have to ruin this night they really need to themselves."

"I think we have to." Felicity said. "When Oliver brought Rene in, he was a bit disoriented. Tobias Church had been using him as a punching bag, so he called John."

"John is back?"

"Long story, he was arrested, sent to a military prison, and then your brother and Bruce broke him out and now he's a fugitive." Felicity rambled with a wave of her hand. "Not the point. After getting more lucid, Rene said something. He shared the Green Arrow's identity to Church."

"Wait, are you saying a murdering psychopath knows Oliver is the Green Arrow?" Thea asked and Felicity gave a nod, her eyes going to the stairs. "Ok, we need to get the kids somewhere safe, and out of this house." she turned back to Felicity. "Try Oliver again, or Twinkie, see if they answer. If not we may have to actually go to the Ritz, which I really don't want to do if they're doing what I know they're doing." Thea slid a hand through her hair before running upstairs.

It felt like deja vu, Oliver thought, as he stood in front of the bed in, a circle of candles surrounding it and his wife's unconscious form lying there.

"Hey," Oliver didn't even glance over to Bruce who stood beside him. "I get you hate me right now, probably hate everyone in this room, and that's fine, but even you have to see that this was a long time coming. Once this is over we will know."

"Except I already know, Bruce." Oliver finally turns to the man. "I look at her, and I just know that it's her, my wife and I have no doubts about it." Oliver glanced over to where Zatanna and Constantine stood speaking with Clark, Kara and Diana and he frowned before walking over to them. They stopped speaking the moment he walked over. "What's going on?" he looked around to the eyes on him.

"We were just discussing the possibilities of what could happen tonight." Clark said and Oliver turned to him. "Oliver, we all are hoping for the best outcome, but if there is a chance that the darkness that was inside of your wife is still there-"

"So you were just discussing the possibility of killing my wife?" Oliver asked and Kara shook her head.

"No, of course not. That's definitely not what we were discussing." Kara said. "Oliver, if it is there, we just want to know how to get it out if that is at all possible. That is our first priority, everything else happens when it comes."

"Whether you believe it or not Oliver, we truly all want the same thing." Diana said and he turned to her. "It's just you don't truly understand the dangers of that darkness once again being unleashed. Opening the portal to the others worlds is just the tip of the iceberg of horror that could befall this universe, maybe even others."

"Let's just get this over with." Oliver said turning to Zatanna who walked over to him. "Are you going to draw the symbols?"

Soon Oliver found himself lying in bed beside his wife who looked as if she were just sleeping. He turned to Zatanna and Constantine who sat on the edge of the bed in front of them.

"Alright Oliver, do your thing." Zatanna said before turning to Constantine giving him a nod before the pair started chanting.

Oliver turned to Katie, placing a hand on her cheek. "Hey Twinkie, it's me. I'm right here, you're safe, just let me in." he expected the moment to happen as quickly as it did before, but nothing happened. Oliver frowned as he slid over closer so his head was touching hers. "Twinkie, just let me-"

That time it happened instantly. Oliver found himself no longer in that bed beside his wife, but some place else. Some place void of anything really. It was just an empty white space as far as his eyes could see.

"What is this?" he whispers before turning and spotting Constantine and Zatanna who too looked around in confusion before tuning to him. "What's going on?"

"She's blocking us." Zatanna says looking around. "Katherine, we're only here to help you!" her voice echoed around them.

"Help me?" Zatanna turned to see Katie now standing directly in front of her. "You ruined my life Zatanna." without a word, Katie grabbed the woman by the throat. "Twice I've met you, and both time you've never even just talked to me." Zatanna tried to pull the woman's hand, though it wasn't working. "I never asked for your help, now get the hell out of my head!" Katie jerked the woman, tossing her so far that she disappeared.

"Twinkie, wait-" Oliver took a step to go to her, but his feet seemed frozen in place.

Katie shook her head at him before turning to Constantine who stared at her. "Fine, you don't want our help, then what do you want?"

"I want you to finally leave me alone." Katie says walking over to the man. "I want you to stop making things worse." she grabbed his jacket, jerking him forward. "I want you out of my head!" with another strong force, she sends Constantine flying so far he disappears as well.

With a huff, Katie turns to Oliver who stands there staring back at her.

"Fine, it's just you and me. Tell me, how do I help you?" Oliver said and Katie walked over to him silently. "Twinkie, please just-"

"Stop trying to save me, Oliver." Katie finally said. "You have your wife, and I have my hell. Lets just leave it at that." she turned to walk away, but he grabbed her arm pulling her back to him.

"I'm not leaving you in here."

"You don't have a choice." with that she placed a glowing hand to his chest.

Oliver let out a gasp as he opened his eyes and sat up from the bed. He looked up to see Zatanna and Constantine now on the floor, both looking beat up.

"Hey," Bruce walked over to Oliver. "Anything?" Oliver didn't say anything, he didn't know what say because he wasn't quite sure of what just happened. He was only sure of one thing. He turned back to see Zatanna and Constantine standing back to their feet.

"Now what?" Diana asked looking between the pair.

"We're going back," Oliver answered and they turned back to him. He looked over to Zatanna and Constantine. "Right now."

Ari glanced between Felicity and Thea as they rode the elevator down to the bunker. She'd only gotten a little bit of the story, but the major part was that Rene had revealed to Church Oliver's identity and that put them all in danger.

The moment the elevator opened, Ari looked up to see a face she hadn't seen in a while. John Diggle smiled as he walked over to them as they stepped from the elevator and he looked over to her with a shake of his head.

"Where has the time gone?" he said. Ari looked at him for a moment before grabbing Robyn's stroller.

"I'm going to lay her down." she said before turning and walking off.

"So I'm going to take a wild guess and say she isn't happy that I've been away." John says and the women just let out a sigh. "Any luck contacting Oliver?"

"No, we've tried his cell and Katie's and we're not getting an answer. I even called the hotel phone and nothing." Thea said with a shake of her head. "So either they're really trying to block out the world—"

"Or something is wrong." Felicity said moving over to her computer. "I'm going to check the cameras in the hotel."

John turned back to Thea who was staring down to her phone. It was obvious how exhausted the woman looked.

"How are you doing?" John asked and Thea looked up to him and let out a sigh.

"Like a ray of sunshine." Thea replied before looking back down to her phone. "This job is hard."

"Chief of Staff?"

"Super aunt." Thea answered glancing back up to the man just as Ari came walking back over to them.

"Any luck contacting Oliver and Katie?" Ari asked.

"Not yet, but we're not giving up yet." Thea said and Ari let out a huff before looking around to see what she could do. John looked at the young girl who had grown up so much in the months since he was gone. She turned back to him with a quirked brow.

"What?"

"The busted lip. I heard there was a fight at your party."

"Yeah, well it was a long time coming." Ari replied before nudging her head toward Felicity. "I'm going to see how I can help." she moved to walk over, but John took a step after Ari.

"Hey Ari-" she stopped and turned back to him. "Look I get it. You're upset that I was gone. I just-" he shook his head. "I was dealing with a lot and then things went sideways. I want you to know I'm here now." Ari looked at him for a moment, and even though she didn't want to, she found comfort in his words. She silently just gave him a nod before turning and heading over to Felicity.

Oliver was getting frustrated. He wanted to try again, to talk to Katie, but instead everyone wanted to stand around and talk.

"Oliver, I get you want to go back, but first we need to determine just how safe that is." Clark said before turning back to Zatanna and Constantine who both seemed totally drained after the first attempt. "Can you even do this again?"

Constantine and Zatanna shared a look before turning back to the woman lying in the bed.

"This was different than the last time." Zatanna said.

"Different how?" Diana asked and Zatanna walked over to stand in front of the bed.

"She had more control." Zatanna said, more curious than anything. "She allowed us in only enough to warn us to leave her alone. She broke through the spell that allowed us to be there, tore through it and tossed us out." a smile came to her face. "It was remarkable."

"It also seems like something beyond the scope of the doctor's abilities." Clark said and they all turned to him. "Are we sure it was Katherine who did all this, and not that darkness."

"No," It was Oliver who stepped forward. "No, that was my wife who is burying herself in guilt and sadness and I need to go back to help pull her out of it." he turned back to Constantine and Zatanna. "I'm going with you or without you, but I'm going back." without another word, Oliver walked back over to lie down beside his wife in the bed.

Zatanna and Constantine shared a look before they let out a sigh and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed once again. Bruce, Clark, Kara, and Diana walked back over as well to continue to keep watch.

Oliver propped up on his side, looked over to Katie's face before slipping her hand in his. "Hey Twinkie, I'm right here. I'm going to keep coming back until you're walking out of here with me. So you can keep pushing me, but you will never get rid of me. I promised you til death do us part, and I promised to be there through good times and bad and those are promises I will never break." he pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "I'm here when you're ready to let me in." Oliver dropped his head on the pillow beside her, closing his eyes and in an instant Oliver was once again pulled.

This time Oliver's eyes scanned the familiar neighborhood that he saw everyday. He looked over to see Zatanna and Constantine who both scanned the area as well before turning and looking up to the house behind Oliver. Oliver turned as well, frowning at the sight of his house.

"She said I had my wife and she had her hell." Oliver said with a shake of his head. "But this—this is our life, how could this-"he glanced over to Zatanna and Constantine. "This doesn't make sense."

"Maybe she let you in to help you make sense of it, mate." Constantine said. He looked over to Zatanna. "We don't know how long she's going to let us stick around here before kicking us out again. " He turned back to Oliver. "The rules are all the same as before. Nothing here is real, it's all part of her world as seen through her eyes. You just need to keep her talking long enough for us to determine if the darkness is somewhere around here hiding." Oliver nodded, turning back to the house.

"Oliver, remember, the longer we're here, the harder it is for us to get out. So when we come back, whatever you find out, we're going to have to leave." Zatanna said and Oliver looked at her for a moment before turning back to the house. "Oliver, she let you in to show you her hell, you need to find a way to get through to her." with that the man took a deep breath before walking over to the house. He reached forward to turn the doorknob only to find that it was locked. He frowned slightly, before looking over to the doorbell. He reached forward, pressing the doorbell, taking in a nervous breath as he waited for someone to open the door.

There were footsteps from the other side of the door, and he heard rustling before the door pulled open and the nervous breath came rushing out.

"Oh, Oliver, hi. I bet I know who you're here to see."

Oliver was stuck on mute for a second, before pulling on a smile. "Mrs. Robins, hi-" he stared at the woman, really taking in how long it's been since he's seen her.

She looked at him for a moment. "Are you alright, Oliver?" he quickly nodded.

"Uh, yeah, yes ma'am. Is Katie home?" the woman smiled with a nod before taking a step to the side to let the man inside.

"She is. She's on way her down." Grace closed the door and turned to Oliver "I just made cookies. How about you come in the kitchen and have one as you wait." the woman headed for the kitchen, and Oliver walked further inside, his eyes looking around the house that looked just as it did when he was a kid. "Oliver?" he turned back to the woman. "Cookies?" he looked at her for a moment before shaking his head. He couldn't get distracted, couldn't get pulled from the reason he was here.

"No thank you. I really need to talk to Katie." he pointed to the stairs about to turn and head up.

"Oliver," he turned back to the woman. "You really shouldn't-" he looked over to the woman in confusion. "You're here to see her, but first you have see me." he frowned for a moment before giving the woman a nod and following her into the kitchen.

Soon Oliver sat impatiently as he watched her moving about the kitchen, before going over to place the cookies on a plate.

"Mrs. Robins, I really-"

"You're not seeing the whole picture Oliver." she said, a smile on her face as she glances over to him. "You're only seeing this from your prospective. Making decisions based on what you want when you should be asking yourself, what does she want." the woman shook her head. "No one asks her that. They do things, move her where they think she should be." the woman dropped her eyes back to the cookies. "I never did that." she grabbed the plate and brought it over to the table, sitting it in front of Oliver. "It's why she needs me. Why she will not leave with you." Oliver looked at the woman who smiled as she pushed the plate closer to him. "Just take your cookie, and go home Oliver."

"No," Oliver stood to his feet about to head upstairs, but he stopped. He remembered this wasn't real, that this wasn't Grace Robins he was talking to. But he couldn't help but feel this was a voice in his wife's head and he couldn't just walk away. He turned back to the woman. "I'm sorry. If I ever made her feel as if she never had a voice, or a choice about the things that happened in our lives." he turned his head at the sound of laughter coming from upstairs. It sounded like multiple people. He turned back to Grace who looked up as well with a frown. "Who is that?" the woman looked back to Oliver and shook her head.

"I should get dinner ready." and without another word the woman turned and began once again moving around the kitchen. Oliver let out a sigh before turning and heading up the stairs. He followed the sound of laughter until he stepped on the second floor. He frowned as he looked at the pictures on the walls. They seemed to be of Grace and Jacob, Katie between them, but a crack in all of them, right above Katie's face. The sound of the laughter once again drew his attention and he turned down the hall, the door to the office slightly open. He hesitated outside of the door for a moment, unsure if he wanted to walk inside. He glanced around the hallway in hopes of spotting Katie, but he didn't see her. He turned back to the door, before pushing it open completely and his eyes widen.

"Oliver my boy, you're here!" Oliver looked at the room that now had a large boardroom table, and there sitting was Jacob Robins. Beside him was the demon, and across from him was Damien Darhk. They were all smiling, friendly even as if they were all buddies. Jacob pointed to the chair at the head of the table. "We have a seat for you here. I think we're still waiting for-" Jacob smiled and pointed behind Oliver. "There he is." With a furrowed brow, Oliver turned, a gasp escaping his lips.

"Dad?"

Constantine and Zatanna walked down the quiet Star City suburb. They were searching for any signs that the darkness could be here, but at this point nothing was jumping out at them.

"Alright this is too quiet." Zatanna said stopping and looking over to Constantine who stopped as well.

"Maybe we should poke the bear." Constantine said and Zatanna looked over to him and he just gave a mischievous smile before walking out into the middle of the street. "Hey, you can't hide forever!" he looked up to the sky. "I was there remember. That dark thing was inside of you and it made you do terrible things. You hurt your friends, you hurt your family!" it was still quiet and Constantine looked over to Zatanna who just shrugged. "You know I never figured you to be a coward, luv." he spun around. "We're here to help you, but we can't do that without your help. Just help us help you!"

"You know he's not going to leave!" Zatanna said and Constantine looked over to her. "Oliver, that man you made vows to. He took them very seriously, so you and I both know that he's not leaving here without you." nothing happened and the woman sighed before looking over to Constantine not realizing the woman standing behind him. Constantine noticed her eyes and turned, a smile coming to his face.

"Now that wasn't so hard, mate." he said and Katie simply looked at him with a blank stared. "So it's pretty quiet around here. I'm guessing that it's gone." Zatanna walked over to stand beside him, her eyes on the woman who hadn't said a word. "It is gone isn't it?"

Katie didn't say anything before turning her back to them, and in a blink and you'd miss it moment, they found themselves no longer in that picturesque suburb, but in some dank, dark medieval hall, that was illuminated by torches. Constantine and Zatanna took a step forward when the sudden sound of blood curdling screams echoed around them. Their eyes zeroed in on a door at the end of the hall baracaded with chains, and planks.

"No it is not gone." Katie finally spoke before looking over her shoulder. "But I have it contained. You need to get Oliver out of here, and you should never come back." Katie lifted her head, a frown on her face before she was suddenly gone.

Constantine and Zatanna stood there, taking in the woman's words before turning back to the door. Zatanna turned to Constantine who studied the door with a tilted head.

"What are you thinking?" she asked and he turned to her with slight smirk and she just knew what he was thinking. "Absolutely not." he turned back to the door with a finger tapping against his chin as a plan started formulating in that messed up brain of his.

Robert smiled fondly before bringing his arms around Oliver, who couldn't help that instinct to hug him back. It had been years since he's seen his father, but not a day goes by does he not think about him. Robert Queen was an ever present figure in Oliver's life, as a man and a father and he would be a liar if he said he didn't miss him.

"Son," Robert pulled back with a smile as he looked at Oliver. "Boy is it good to see you." Oliver couldn't help the wide smile that came to his face. In this moment he forgot. He forgot his goal. Forgot that he was here for Katie. He forgot that this moment wasn't real. All he saw was his dad. And everything he wanted from this moment just came flooding to him.

"Dad, I-" Oliver suddenly felt the rise of emotions in his throat. "It's good to see you too. There's so much I-" that emotion was threatening to take his words. "So much I want to tell you. I—I have daughter. You have a granddaughter and she's-" Oliver shook his head. "She's perfect. Me and Twinkie-" it was when he said her name did the moment click. Reality came back and ruined the moment. Oliver took a step back before looking over to the others, realizing the symbolism of the room and the men they held.

"We should take a seat." Robert said moving around Oliver to sit beside Damien. "I think we're all here. Except for-" Robert turned to Jacob. "What's his name again?"

"I don't know. He never shows up to these things anyway." Jacob said before turning to Oliver. "Come sit son, we should get started." Jacob grabbed the remote and pressed a button and a sudden projector screen appeared, Katie's face appearing on it. "Right, so we left off last meeting trying to decide where my girl should go next."

"Well I still have hope that she can revive my legacy, unlike my insolent daughter. "Ra's said with a shake of his head.

"That story's boring," Damien said gaining a glare from Ra's before turning to Jacob. "And I think I'm offended by you referring to her as your girl when she's clearly my-"

"Guys, can we not go there!" Robert interjected before turning to Oliver. "A little help here son. These things go off course all the time. Do you have any ideas?" Oliver felt like he was in a scene from the twilight zone right now as he stood in this room, but it was yet another moment he realized was another voice in his wife's head. Without a second thought Oliver walked around the table, grabbed the screen and tearing it from the ceiling. He turned back to the men.

"This is over. She's no longer your pawn, no longer torturing herself for the things you put her through." Oliver looked at the faces of the men who've done much damage to his own life and he realized these words coming from him wouldn't make much of a difference. "But I can say all of this until I'm blue in the face and it wouldn't make a difference." Oliver shook his head before walking around the table, heading for the door.

"Oliver?" Robert's voice, though not real, still tugged on something inside of Oliver he doesn't think could ever die. Oliver stopped walking and glanced back over to his father who gave him a smile. "I'm proud of you, son." Oliver thought he would fall apart right then and there as the words he'd desperately wanted to hear from his father just came out of his mouth.

"Thanks dad." Oliver said, forcing himself to turn around and leave that office. He let out a heavy breath as he stepped out into the hall. He turned, his eyes going toward their bedroom before walking. He was almost there when he stopped walking, and turned to the door of Ari's room, which was once Twinkie's room. He reached for the doorknob pushing open the door and it was yet another plucked from the past moment as he stepped inside of Twinkie's old room. He smiled as he looked around at the posters on her wall, the dolls and stuffed animals in weird places in her room. He turned, seeing the light in the closet on and when he walked over, he pulled opened the door and there she was. Katie was sitting on the floor, her knees to her chest.

"You didn't knock." she said, not lifting her eyes to him. He smiled as he looked down to her.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." there was breath of silence. "Did you want me to leave?"

"Yes," she said without hesitation. She lifted her eyes to him, and he could see the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I want you to leave and never come back." Oliver swallowed the lump in his throat before he moved in and dropped to the floor beside her. "Just let me go, Oliver." Oliver didn't say anything as he brought his arm around her and pulled her closer to him, and she just dropped her head on his chest. "You can't save me."

"I'm not here to save you, Twinkie," Oliver placed a kiss on top of her head, closing his eyes. "I don't think I could if I wanted to. You have to save yourself."

"What if I don't want to save myself? What if I'm fine with how things are." she lifted her eyes to meet his. "I can't leave, I can't-" she frowned, turning away.

"What's wrong?" Oliver asked and Katie quickly stood to her feet. Oliver did the same, and before he knew what was happening, they were no longer standing in that closet. Oliver's eyes looked around the old, hallway and the torches on the walls. He looked over to Katie who was staring at something up ahead. He followed her eyes to see a door that looked as if it had been burst open. "What is that?" he turned back to Katie, now noticing that her clothing was different. She was wearing a pale yellow version of what he thinks is league of assassin clothing. "What's happening?" In the next moment, a katana appears in her hand. "Twinkie?"

"Oliver you need to leave now." she says before gripping the katana with her other hand and carefully moving toward the door. Oliver stood there for a moment, before following after her.

Oliver stepped into the room behind Katie, his eyes going over to Zatanna and Constantine who stood in front of someone. They glanced back, their eyes looking from Katie to Oliver before they moved finally allowing him to see who was there. Oliver stared in confusion as he looked to the face of his wife who was wearing the familiar black league attire.

"You just couldn't learn from your mistakes could you?" yellow said looking over to Constantine and Zatanna. "I had it under control, but as always, you just had to mess everything up." she turned back to her dark doppelganger holding out her Katanna. "You need to take Oliver and leave. This part usually gets very messy." and without another word she bolts toward the double, the clanking of their swords as the fight insues.

"What the hell is going on?" Oliver asked walking over to Constantine and Zatanna. "So the darkness is here and you let it out again?"

"No," Zatanna said watching the battle happening in front of them. "The darkness created from Darhk's spell is gone."

"Then who is that?" Oliver asked turning back to the fight as well.

Felicity Smoak knew something was up. She let out a sigh as she looked at the monitor. Ari heard the sound and looked over to the frown on the woman's face.

"What's up?" she turned to the screen which looked to be a video feed. "Is that from the hotel?"

"Yep." Soon two familiar faces appear from the elevator. "And that is Constantine and Zatanna." Felicity shook her head before taking out her cell phone. "I think I know why Oliver and Katie aren't answering their phones."

"What do you mean?" Ari asked still confused. She remembered the British guy, but not the woman, but she had no idea who they really were. "What's going on?" Felicity looked over to the teen with another side. "Felicity don't say what I know you're going to -"

"I'm sorry, it's a conversation that you're going to have to have with your guardians." Felicity stood to her feet and with a huff Ari did the same. Both stopped at the sound of the elevator opening, and inside were Evelyn and Rory who stepped out. Evelyn and Ari stared at each other for a moment.

"What are they doing here?" Ari asked taking a step forward, but Felicity quickly caught her arm. She turned back to Evelyn. "You have some nerve coming here."

"Well there are bigger problems than focusing on broken hearted psychos." Evelyn said before turning to Felicity. "Have you made contact with Oliver, yet?" Felicity was about to answer, but she was cut off.

"I'm sorry, at what point did you really think you coming back here would be that easy." Ari said tugging her arm from Felicity's grasp. "You need to leave."

"Ari you need to calm down." Rory said interjecting, hoping to shift the focus. "Evie is right. If Church does know Oliver's identity, then that is what we need to be focusing on. Everything else can wait." Ari let out a huff before turning to Felicity expecting some sort of back up. Felicity took a step toward the girl.

"Right now Ari, we need to make sure Katie and Oliver are alright. That means you have to put aside any emotions that aren't going to do that." Felicity glanced over to Rory and Evelyn. "I need to make a call." with that Felicity walked off. Ari turned back to Evelyn who wore a slight smirk and she couldn't take it. Ari shook her head before stalking off to head up to the roof.

"Thanks for that." Evelyn said over to Rory who turned to her. "That girl really is a psycho."

"What does that make the girl who showed up to her birthday party to make out with the boy she liked?" Rory asked and Evelyn just shook her head. "What the hell was that, Evie?" the girl didn't say anything and Rory just let out a sigh. "I don't know what your problem is with her, but if you keep it up, you're not going to be on this team." she turned to him with a quirked brow. "She's Oliver's kid. If it really came to a choice between keeping her around and keeping you around, who do you think he would choose?" she turned away from him. "I'm just saying, be careful."

Bruce was getting annoyed with how long this was taking. He, Clark, Kara and Diana rotated shifts between who would watch Oliver, Katie, Zatanna and Constantine, while the others waited upstairs. At the moment it was Clark's turn to watch while Diana, Kara and Bruce moved about the house. Bruce found himself looking out a window that didn't actually show what one would expect to see outside. It was just a bunch of bright, swirling lights.

"We're moving really, really quickly," Bruce glanced over to Diana who appeared behind him. "So fast that, everything that passes by looks like an orb of light that appears and then disappears in the blink of an eye. It's quite remarkable really." Bruce turned back to the window. "Did I do something to upset you, Bruce?"

"And why would you think that I'm upset with you?" Bruce asked walking from the window to look up to a painting on the wall.

"You've barely said two words to me since we've been here. So either you're upset with me or—" she walked over to stand beside him to look up to the painting. "Did something happen with Felicity?" Bruce frowned slightly and looked over to the woman. "I'm just wondering-"

"Don't," Bruce stalked away from the woman, stopping and turning back to her. "You're right, I am upset. I'm upset that I'm in this ridiculous mansion right now and not in the middle of some over the top, over extravagant apology to the love of my life." he let out a sigh, when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. "Can't believe I get reception in here." he looked down to the phone, surprised to see Felicity's name and he quickly answered. "Hi, hey, you're probably wondering where I am."

" _Well I think I know._ " Felicity replied. " _Are you in Zatanna's moving house with Oliver and Katie, and that plan you all have of verifying if the darkness is truly gone is in effect."_

"That's exactly what's happening. How did you figure it out?"

_"I called Oliver and Katie and neither answered their phones so I hacked into the hotel's surveillance and spotted our favorite magical duo and put two and two together."_ Felicity let out a sigh. " _How is it going?"_

"I'm not sure, they're still out." Bruce said, and silence held the line for a moment. "Look, I know-"

" _Not the time for this conversation."_ Felicity interrupted. " _We have a problem. Tobias Church knows Oliver is the Green Arrow."_

"He's going to go after Oliver."

" _Or Katie, or the kids. Right now we have the kids at the bunker. Once they're finished there, let Oliver know what's going on. We need to figure out how to deal with this."_

"Right, I will." Bruce said, the line going silent once again. "Felicity, I'm sorry."

" _I don't accept apologies over the phone Mr. Wayne. You know that."_ and with that she ended the call.

Bruce let out a sigh as he slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"Is everything alright?" Diana asked and Bruce looked over to her.

"No. No it is not."

It was getting difficult to focus on what was happening during that sword fight. Oliver kept his eyes on the two faces of his wife, both equally matched in a fight that seemed unwinnable. It was during the fight did he realize that the space around them was changing too.

"Wait," Oliver said, his eyes looking around what looked like one of the many combat rooms of Ra's fortress. In an instant, they're gone, now on top of a roof. Oliver looked from the fight to Constantine and Zatanna. "These are the places she's running from." the pair turned to the man who turned to the battle that was still happening. In the next moment they're standing in the bunker and then everything stops. The fight stops as both women stare at each other out of breath. The one in yellow glances around before her eyes drop to the body of Damien Darhk lying on the floor, a bloody hole in his chest, his heart just a few feet away.

"No!" she screams before clenching the katana and swinging it at the double, who disappears before the strike. Yellow spins around looking for her, before turning and closing her eyes. "It didn't happen." she mutters, dropping the sword and placing her hands over her ears. "It didn't happen." she repeats the words over and over again. Oliver walks over to her, placing his hands on her arms, but she pushes him away. "No! You shouldn't be here. I was fine. I had it under control." she turned to Constantine and Zatanna. "Why would you let it out?! That monster needs to be locked away forever."

"Except it's not a monster." Zatanna walked over to the woman. "And you can't beat it and you can't lock it away and pretend as if she's not there. You can't hide from her any longer."

Beeping sounded from their watches. Zatanna looked down to her watch before letting out a sigh and glancing over to Constantine. He gave a nod before turning to Oliver.

"Oliver, mate, we have to go." Constantine said and Oliver shook his head before turning back to Katie.

"I'm not going anywhere." Oliver placed his hands on Katie's arms. "It's time to face it. It's time to see what happened and know that was not your fault."

"Yes it was." she pulled from his grasp and walked away from him, her eyes once again looking down to the deceased form of Darhk's body. "I ripped a man's heart from his chest." she looked down to her hands, now covered in blood. "I let Ruve Adams die in that explosion, and then I took her daughter." she looked over to Oliver, tears pooling in her eyes. "I kidnapped Thea with the sole purpose to kill her. I was going to use her blood to-" she turned away, snapping her eyes shut because it was happening. "Stop it!" she tuned and there standing was her double. "Just make it stop!"

"Oliver," Zatanna grabbed his arm. "We really need to go. This spell is very sensitive to time, and if we don't leave now, we're not going to be able to leave at all. Right now there's nothing more for you to do for her. She has to figure out what happens next on her own." Oliver didn't say anything, his eyes looking back over to the two faces of his wife as they stare at each other.

"Just give me one second." Oliver walked over to the two women, their faces turning to him and he had to admit it was very strange. "Twinkie, I-" Zatanna and Constantine grabbed his arms and in an instant his eyes were snapping open, back up to the ceiling of Zatanna's basement.

Oliver turned his head to look over to Katie who wasn't awake. "Twinkie?" she didn't budge. He sat up and placed his hand on her cheek. "Twinkie, wake up."

"Oliver," Zatanna came to the side of the bed, but Oliver didn't even look over to her.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Oliver asks. He drops his head to hers. "Twinkie, please just wake up." Zatanna looked over to Constantine, just as Bruce, Diana, Kara and Clark came running back in.

"What's going on?" Bruce ask stepping forward. "Why isn't she awake?" he looked between Constantine and Zatanna who both looked as if they didn't know the answer to that question. "Are you kidding me?! You two come up with this big plan and didn't think of what would happen if she didn't wake up?!"

"Bruce, calm down." Diana said.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Bruce went to the other side of the bed. "Oliver we need to get her to a hospital." Oliver looked over to the man in confusion. "I don't know what the hell is happening, but I have no more faith in the people in this room right now."

"Well you should have enough faith in us to believe us when we say that a hospital can't help her right now." Zatanna said and the man glared over to her. "This moment, she has to make a choice."

"What do you mean?" Clark asked and Zatanna let out a sigh before turning to him. "I have to agree with Bruce. You never mentioned the possibility of her not coming out of this. That would've greatly swayed our opinions of you doing this." Clark turned to the woman on the bed, focusing in on his xray vision, seeing the beat of her heart and at least finding relief in that. "If you can't wake her up, then we need to get her to a hospital." Clark moved forward as well.

"Will you lot just shut it for one minute!" Constantine yelled pushing his way past Bruce and Clark and taking a seat on the edge of the bed beside Katie. He closed his eyes, and tilted his head and they all watched him, unsure of what he was actually doing.

" _I was wondering when you were going to summon me."_ Constantine opened his eyes and looked over to the woman in the room that only he could see.

"Yeah, well I was all out of options on this one." he said and everyone in the room was looking at him in confusion trying to figure out who he was talking to. "She's not waking up. Any ideas?"

" _Maybe_." she replied and then she was gone.

"Who is he talking to?" Clark asks over to Zatanna who lets out a sigh.

"Probably someone no longer in the realm of the living." Zatanna replied and Clark frowned before turning to the man. "Hopefully they can help."

Constantine stood to his feet and they all watched as he turned to face him. "We have to wait."

"For what exactly?" Bruce asked.

"Well I've sent someone in to see what's keeping our girl from opening her eyes. Now we have to see if it works."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Bruce asked. "Sent who?"

Constantine turned to the man. "Her mum."

Grace Robins found herself standing in the bunker of a teams of heroes she usually watches from afar. She sees her daughter sitting on the floor, her eyes glued to the dead body of Damien Darhk. She takes a step before stopping and glancing around and spotting her daughter, only this one wearing black league clothing.

"What's happening?" she asked the version of her daughter not seemingly stuck staring at a dead man.

"Oh, you're about to see." she said and in a blink of an eyes she was gone. Grace stood there in confusion before turning back to her daughter who wore all yellow. She walked over and took a seat beside her.

"You didn't do this." Grace said..

"And yet his blood and the blood of so many others are on my hands." she couldn't tear her eyes away. "This man was evil. He hurt me, he hurt Ari. Kidnapped my daughter. Tormented my husband and yet he didn't deserve to die like this."

"So what now? You stare here, and torture yourself for something beyond your control?" Grace asked and Katie didn't say anything. "What about your family?"

"They will have the version of me that doesn't carry this pain."

"Except that version doesn't exist anymore." Grace said and Katie looked over to her in confusion. "She's been here the whole time, finally able to see the truth. Right now they only person who can be with your family is you. You can't stay here." Katie turned back to Damien's body.

"Is he my father?" Katie asked and Grace closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

"It would make sense, wouldn't it?" Grace said opening her eyes and turning to the man. "If I told my brother that I was having a child by the man who had become a monster. If I convinced my brother that the only way to keep me and my child safe was to go into hiding with a brave soldier who would protect us." she turned back to Katie. "And then I would do everything to make it seem as if it were true. Even mentions in journals. It would make sense, and people would believe it."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I know, but I wasn't trying to." Grace replied. "The truth is that, one day you are going to know everything there is to know about me, and about you and about who we are." Katie looked over to the woman who smiled and placed a hand on her cheek. "You have no idea the-" suddenly the other version of her daughter appeared behind the one sitting beside her.

"Thanks for the distraction mom." the double said before dropping behind yellow and wrapping her arms around her from behind. "No more running. No more hiding."

"No! No!"

Katie's eyes snapped open to a room she's not sure how she got to.

"Twinkie?" she turned to Oliver who was right beside her, watching her. "How are you feeling?" Katie frowned as she quickly sat up, now noticing the people in the room all watching her. "Twinkie, it's alright, everything is-" he placed a hand on her arm and she pushed him away before standing to her feet and backing away from everyone in the room. Oliver looked over to Constantine and Zatanna. "What's going on?" Oliver stood to his feet and walked around the bed to his wife who had back herself into a corner to distance herself from everyone. "Everyone needs to leave." no one moved and Oliver growled before turning to the others. "Right now, everyone needs to give her some space, so out, now!" They all watched Katie for a moment before they began filtering back upstairs. Constantine walked over to stand beside Oliver. "Constantine-"

"I'm going, I just-" he took a step toward Katie. "How you doing there love?" she turned to him with a glare before she turned to the wall, and without any warning just let out a scream. Oliver was about to go to her, but Constantine stopped him. "She needs to let it out. Just give her minute to let it all out." Constantine turned to Zatanna who waited at the door before walking over to her.

"Is she-"

"Back?" Constantine asked before looking back over to the woman who was still screaming. Still releasing the emotions of everything that has happened. "I think she is." he turned when he spotted Grace standing beside him, and she looked concerned. "What's wrong?" Grace turned to him and shook her head.

" _Getting back to her life, back to normal won't be easy."_ Grace said looking back over when the screaming finally stopped.

Oliver placed a hand on her back. "Twinkie, I'm right here. Whatever you need, I'm here for you." Katie turned to face him, her back falling to rest on the wall.

"What I need is to be as far away from you as possible." she moved around him, walking toward the door but only to be blocked by Constantine. "You should move out of my way."

"Where are you going to go?" he asked.

"No idea, but the longer I stand here, the more tempted I am to kill you and your friend Zatanna." Katie says glaring over to the woman.

"Katherine, what we did was to help you." Zatanna said. "That has always been our intention."

"That's right. Helping the helpless! Saving those in need." Katie took a very dangerous step toward the woman. "That night on the beach in Blue Hill, I was supposed go back to that beach house, and hold my daughter. Because of your help, I missed months of her life, I missed everything. That's what your help did." she took another step toward the woman and this time, Constantine walked over to intervene, only for Katie to grab his arm and knee him in the gut before pushing him back and turning her attention to Zatanna, who was chanting something Katie assumes is supposed to be doing something to her and the frown on the woman's face revealed that it wasn't. "You know I don't think I've actually introduced myself to you because seconds after you appear you say your little spell and render me unconscious, something I don't believe works right now from that expression on your face." Another step and Zatanna's back was on the wall. "I'm Katherine Queen, Daughter of Minnah Al Ghul, and this is the last time you and I will ever share the same breath. You and Constantine will stay away from me and my family. You've done what you've came to do. Proven the darkness is gone." Katie leaned her face toward the woman. "You brought me back and you will find out what that means if I ever see your face when I leave this room."

Katie pulled away from the woman before walking over to the stairs and climbing up.

"What's going on?" Oliver asked walking over as Constantine hobbled over to where he stood in front of Zatanna. "Why is she so-"

"Angry?" Constantine asked and Oliver looked over to him with a nod. "I'm starting to think she lost that fight within herself. One side wanted to hide, the other wanted to face the truth. You should go, do that husband thing you do." Oliver stood there for a moment before rushing upstairs after her. Constantine looked over to Zatanna. "I told you, those bad first impressions were gonna catch up to you." the woman didn't say anything. Constantine quirked a brow before walking over to the woman whose back was still pressed against the wall.

"I just wanted to help her." Zatanna said her eyes turning to meet Constantine. "I had to help her. She's the only other magi I've come across since my father, and now-" she shook her head. "She doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Give her time. She's a stubborn one. She'll come around." the woman just turned away. "There's something else. What?"

"Before, when it seemed like she was going to attack me, I did another sleeping spell." she turned to Constantine. "It didn't work on her." the man looked back over to the woman in confusion.

Katie didn't stop as she moved down the halls of the house. She spotted the door, prepared to walk through it and never look back.

"Robins, wait!" Bruce called running over to stand in front of her. "Look I get you're upset and you have every right to be, but right now there's more going on."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Katie asks turning back to him. She glanced over to see Oliver who came down the hall and she just shook her head. "I said I want you to stay away from me." she was about to turn back to the door.

"Tobias Church knows Oliver is the Green Arrow." Bruce said quickly and both Katie and Oliver turned to him. "Felicity called when you two were out." he looked over to Oliver. "John got Rene talking, and he said that after the beatings he revealed who you were." Oliver turned to Katie who looked at him for a moment before turning back to Bruce.

"Where are Robyn and Ari?" she asked.

"They're at the bunker." Bruce replied. "But this is bad, because he's no longer just going to go after the Green Arrow." he turned back to Oliver. "He has the face under the mask and all the weaknesses that go along with that." they turned back to Katie who looked at them both before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Katie doesn't think she released that breath. Even when they finally stepped through that door, back into the hotel room. She thinks she was still holding it as they rode the elevator down to the bunker.

"Twinkie?" Katie rolled her eyes. He'd been silent for most of the trip, something she assumed would continue. He reached over and took her hand, but she pulled it back and moved to stand further away. "You're angry, I'm assuming at a lot of things right now."

"You couldn't just let it go." she muttered with a shake of her head. "You couldn't just leave well enough alone." she glanced over to him.

"No I couldn't," he admitted taking a step toward her. "Because everything wasn't well. You were not alright. And the truth is, you're not standing here, in front of me with all of your memories because of anything I did." she turned away from him. "You're here because a part of you knew you couldn't run any more. So be angry, push me away, but I'm just going to keep coming back."

"You're so annoying." she said and he couldn't help but to smile.

"And you're ridiculously stubborn." he replied. "But I don't think I've loved a woman as much as I love you, Mrs. Queen." she didn't say anything, but he didn't think she would. Sometimes he thinks she actually is consciously stubborn to make things harder on him. The doors to the elevator opened and she didn't even wait before she stalked off. Everyone stopped as they turned to her and Oliver who walked over to stand beside her.

It was John Diggle who took a step toward the woman. She looked over to him for a moment before taking a step forward to bring her arms around him in a hug. They silently pull back and Katie looks at the man for a moment before walking around him over to Felicity.

"Have you had any luck tracking where Church went after taking off from Rene, Smoaks?" Felicity looked at her for a moment before shaking her head.

"No he went off the grid when-" something suddenly clicked and Felicity turned back to Katie. "You just called me Smoaks. You haven't called me that since-" Felicity looked at the woman for a moment her eyes going wide as she looks over to Oliver. "Does she-" she turned back to Katie. "Do you-" Katie simply nodded and the blonde smiled before tossing her arms around Katie in a hug. "oh my gosh, I can't believe it. Like I knew it was going to happen, but I didn't expect-"

"Smoaks!" Katie says and Felicity simply nodded.

"Right, sorry."

Katie turned to Oliver. "What are we doing? Going underground?"

"I can't disappear." Oliver says with a shake of his head. "I'm still dealing with the fallout from not being around when the ACU was attacked, and there is a rezoning vote that needs my attention."

"I'm sorry, a rezoning vote?" Katie says walking over to stand in front of him. "So the vote comes before Church telling every criminal in this city who you are?"

"I have security, I will be fine." Oliver said and Katie let out a huff, turning as Ari appeared from the back, her eyes going wide when she see Oliver and Katie.

"You're here." she says walking over to Katie and noticing something seemed different. "What happened? Why weren't you answering your phone, I was worried." Katie walked over to the girl, placing a hand on her cheek and smiling. "What?"

"Nothing, I'm just happy to see you." Katie says before turning back to Oliver who walked over to stand beside her.

"So you know what's going on, what's the plan?" Ari asked looking from Katie to Oliver.

"Tomorrow I'm going back to City Hall."

"So I guess that means I'm going to school." Ari sighed and both Oliver and Katie turned back to her. "I am going back to school, aren't I?"

"No, it's too dangerous." Katie said with a shake of her head.

"Ari can't miss school because of this." Oliver said and they both turned to him. He let out a sigh before turning to Katie. "Ari missing school would only throw up another red flag with her case worker." he turned back to Ari. "I'm assigning extra security to be at the school with you and if you feel anything is off, you don't try to handle it yourself."

"But-"

"Ari, if you're feel something is off, you let a teacher know or you call me or Katie, but you do not handle it yourself." Ari rolled her eyes, but gave a nod. "Look it's only a couple of hours before you have to be at school, you should try to get some sleep." she just let out a huff before turning and walking off. Oliver shook his head before turning to Katie who watched as Ari stalked off toward the back room. "She's going to be alright."

"Well obviously you know since you went ahead and made the decision for the both of us." Katie said about to walk away, but Oliver caught her arm. She jerked out of his grasp, turning to him.

"Wait, I'm sorry, I just-"

"You're used to being the only person who makes the decision when it comes to their well-being, but that no longer happens." she said with a pointed finger. She glanced over to see that there were more eyes on them and she let out a huff before turning and stalking off. Oliver stood there for a moment, but took a step to go after her, only for a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Yeah, that's not a good idea." John said and Oliver let out a sigh as he turned to him. "I'm taking it this all didn't play out the way you hoped."

Oliver shook his head. "I thought everything would be better if she just remembered. Everything could go back to the way it was. I guess that's not possible after everything that happened."

"Would that be a bad thing?" John asked. "How I see it, it's the tough times that make you guys stronger. It all comes back to those vows you took where you promised to work through the good and bad times. So maybe you don't get back what you had, but there's a chance you can have something better." Oliver looked at the man for a moment before letting out sigh.

"I'm glad you're back. I really-" Oliver didn't know how much he missed his friend until this moment. He needed that advice, that great advice that he always gave. Oliver turned away and took another deep breath. "I should-" he nudged his head and John gave a nod before watching the man hurry off.

Oliver carefully pushed open the door that lead to the back room. He stepped inside to find Ari already asleep on the bed before looking over to the corner where he saw Katie rocking back and forth in the rocking chair holding a sleeping Robyn in her arms. She glanced over to him for a moment before looking back down to her daughter. He walked over and took seat on the floor in front of them.

"You know I actually had to give myself a pep talk before I came in here to see her." Katie whispered as she looked down to the sleeping girl. "I had to repeat the words, _you're not going to hurt her, it's gone, you're not going to hurt her_ , over and over again until I found the courage to walk through that door." she looked up to him with a slight nod. "I get my opinion isn't something you're probably trusting at the moment."

"Twinkie, that's not-"

"Oliver," she interrupted him before he could say anything else. "I need you to just listen right now, ok?" he shut his mouth and gave her a nod. "I feel broken and I feel used and I feel angry and I feel sad and I feel everything and I feel nothing and I don't know how long I will feel this way." she looked over to a sleeping Ari before looking down to Robyn. "The only thing I know for certain is that absolutely nothing can happen to them." she looked up to Oliver who sat across from her. "Nothing can happen to you. So with them and with you, I will always go the cautious route that shields you from the danger all together. And you will be the optimistic one who believes we can take on anything that comes our way head on. Our decisions will be made together, us meeting somewhere in the middle."

Oliver gave her nod. "Absolutely." he watched as she stood to her feet and placed Robyn back in her crib. Oliver stood to his feet and walked over to where she stood lingering above the girl for a moment before turning and heading for the door. He turned, going after her. "Twinkie, wait, just-" she stopped and let out a sigh before turning back to him. "Tell me what you need. Whatever it is, I will make it happen." Katie looked at him for a moment, before reaching over and placing a hand on his chest. He reached up, to cover her hand with his.

"I don't know." was her honest response. "You can't save me, no matter how much either one of us wish you could." she pulled her hand away before turning and leaving him standing there without the faintest clue as what he should do.

It was close to sunrise as Katie stood on the roof of the bunker. Her eyes looked out to the city not really paying attention. It was happening at this very moment. Like a movie playing in her head of every terrible thing that occurred at her hands and she couldn't help the feather of thought to just take that extra step toward the edge and end all of the thoughts right then and there.

She didn't hear the door open behind her, or even someone calling her name. Her eyes were just looking down to the edge of the roof trying to ignore that voice in her head telling her that it'll only hurt for a second before she'll find peace. She doesn't even consciously knows she took that step forward until someone grabs her shoulders and forcibly pulls her back. In that moment she snaps back to the here and now and her eyes turned to the wide eyes of her sister in law.

"Were you just about to-"

"No," Katie said quickly with a shake of her head. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I don't know." she opened her eyes and that's when Thea saw the glistening of tears in her eyes. "I don't-" she turned away closing her eyes and sliding her hands through her hair. "It just won't stop." Thea stepped forward and placed her hands on Katie's shoulders.

"What won't stop?"

Katie opened her eyes, and looked up to the sky and it was if the moment had flickered to the past, and she found herself staring up to the sky as a bright white light cracked through. Hands on her shoulder shook her back to the preset, and she turned back to the worried eyes of Thea.

"What won't stop?"

Katie didn't answer her. She didn't know how to answer her. And so she just took a deep breath, dried her eyes with her hands before walking around Thea and heading back into the bunker.


	14. Protect the Family

**Chapter 14**

**Protect the Family**

_"My family is my strength and my weakness."_

_-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan_

* * *

Oliver's hands were paused in the place around his tie as he stared at the brown door that leads to their bedroom. The night before, his wife finally got her memories of him and their life back. He assumed that once she remembered, everything would just be better somehow. He thought that maybe that piece of their lives that was stolen by Damien Dark would come back. But that's not what happened. Katie was angry and he's not completely sure why. He assumed this was what she wanted, that she wanted to know everything and yet that trip inside of her head only confused him even more.

The door to Ari's room opened, and the teen stepped out only to stop at the sight of Oliver standing there frozen in the hall. She followed his eyes down the hall to the door and sighed. From what he finally told her once they came home was that Katie now remembered everything, but she wasn't taking it well.

"Has she come out yet?" Ari asked and Oliver turned to her and just shook his head.

"Uh, not yet. We'll give her some more time." he said and Ari simply scoffed before turning and heading down to the bedroom door. "Ari, wait, don't-" Ari pushed opened the door stopping with a furrowed brow. Oliver came into the room behind her, his eyes scanning the room only to realize it was empty.

"Where is she?" Ari asked. Oliver didn't say anything as he walked over to the bathroom door that was slightly cracked. He knocked and when he didn't hear anything he just pushed it opened to find it empty. Oliver felt his heart rate pick up, and he turned and stormed out of the room. "Where did she go?"

"Ari, just give me a minute." Oliver said impatiently. He was nervous, and he was scared and right now he just needed to know where his wife was. He came to the door of the nursery, pushing open the door and walking inside. The crib was empty. Ari came in right behind him, looking around the room only to state the obvious. "Ok, so wherever she is, she took the baby with her?" she turned to Oliver who let out a heavy sigh before once again stalking out of the room, forcing her to follow. "At what point should we start worrying?" They came downstairs, and Oliver's eyes went to the front door. He shook his head hoping that when he looked out the door, he saw her car. His hand had only touched the door when he heard the sound of something's crashing from the kitchen. He turned to Ari who turned toward the kitchen door before hurrying over and steps inside.

Ari stopped just inside the kitchen where she saw Robyn sitting in her booster seat, her face covered with milk. Her eyes looked down to Katie who was picking up Robyn's bowl from the floor before turning to see the teen and Oliver standing there. There was something in the look on their faces.

"What's wrong?" she asked, but neither answered her question. "Guys?"

"It's nothing." Oliver finally said coming into the kitchen and placing a kiss on the top of Robyn's head. Katie looked over at him before turning back to Ari who still looked strange and so she walked over to her.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing," Ari said as well before moving around the woman to grab some cereal. "So just so I'm clear on what's happening today-" Ari looked between Oliver and Katie and Oliver seemed to look to Katie who let out a sigh before turning to the teen.

"You're going to go to school with some extra security." she looked over to Oliver. "You're going to go to work with some extra guards as well."

"What about you and Robyn?" Ari asked and Katie turned back to her.

"I'm going to take Robyn back to the bunker." Katie said walking over to place Robyn's bowl in the sink to clean it. She felt their eyes on her, so she assumes her omission didn't go unnoticed.

"Twinkie-" Oliver said and she let out a sigh and she looked over to him. Ari looked between the couple seriously confused. Oliver held her gaze for a moment, and Katie felt as if he was trying to read her mind. He shook his head. "No."

"And what was the question?" Katie asked.

"I'm so confused right now." Ari said.

"Ari, finish your cereal in your room." Oliver said turning to the girl who looked as if she wanted to protest, but the man held that seriousness in his eyes and so she just sighed as she grabbed her bowl of cereal and headed up to her room. Once she was gone, Oliver turning back to Katie. "You're not going to look for Tobias alone?"

"I don't remember asking for your permission." she said attempting to leave the kitchen only for Oliver to quickly block her. "There is a man out there who has made it blatantly obvious that he would like to hurt you and anyone close to you." she lifted her eyes to his. "I am fully capable-"

"Except you're not fully capable of anything right now and you know that." Oliver said and Katie turned away from him. "Yesterday you opened your eyes with the memory of every detail of what happened to you. You and I both know that it is affecting you." she attempted to move around him, but he grabbed her arm, and she pushed away out of his grasp. Her eyes quickly went to her daughter who sat just across the room silently watching them. Oliver turned, following her eyes, and let out a sigh. Katie crossed the room and picked up the girl with a smile.

"It's ok." she placed a kiss on Robyn's head. "Everything is ok." she hugged the child to her chest before looking over to Oliver. "You don't understand."

"Then tell me." he said taking a step toward her, only for her to take a step away. "Twinkie, I can't help you if you won't let me." the woman let out a scoff shaking her head.

"I never asked for your help." she said turning and heading for the door.

"Twinkie, at this point we have to assume we're being watched." she stopped and glanced back over to him. "That means we can't go to the bunker." she looked at him for a moment and just rolled her eyes before continuing upstairs. Oliver stood there, unsure what to do next.

Oliver had already determined today just wouldn't be a good day. He couldn't stop thinking about Katie, couldn't stop thinking about how he was going to figure out how to help her even if she didn't want it.

Walking into City Hall today was different. Two guards now would accompany him where ever he went. He had to admit it was annoying, but it also kept up an illusion he thinks he needed at the moment. At the moment, Oliver was standing in the elevator heading up for his meeting, his eyes down to his phone reading the message of Ari's arrival at school. He didn't want to admit it, but a part of him had doubt of letting the girl go to school because Katie was right, it was risky and dangerous and just not for Ari, but the kids at that school if Tobias did decide to make a move. He let out a sigh before sending a message to Katie letting her know of Ari's arrival at the school only for her to respond that she didn't need his confirmation since she actually rode along with the girl to school. Oliver looked up from his phone with a shake of his head, because he should've thought of that. He looked back down to his phone wanting to say something else, something more, and yet he no longer knew what the right thing to say was anymore and so he just slipped his phone into his pocket. The elevator opened and there stood Thea waiting for him.

"Hey," she greets, her eyes glancing back to the guards before turning to her brother. "How did last night go?" Oliver asked over to her. "With Twinkie coming home?" Oliver just shook his head as he turned away. "Did you talk to her?"

"Talking doesn't seem to be working." Oliver said as they stopped. "How is the whole Ari fight video going?" Thea let out a sighed and that made Oliver nervous.

"Well, we keep getting requests for a statement about what happened-"

"I'm not giving a statement."

"Which I let every news source know. The problem is that without an actual factual statement, the news is just being filled with rumors and anonymous statements from kids at the party who probably didn't even see what happened." Oliver turned away with a shake of his head.

"It was supposed to be a nice birthday party."

"Have you talked to Ari about it yet?"

"Not yet, but I think we'll talk to her about it later tonight." Oliver said as he nudged his head toward his office. "Is Councilman Kullens in there?"

"Yes. He's waiting in your office with Susan Williams." Oliver frowned slightly at the name of the reporter he's become quite familiar with. He turned to his guards and gave them a nod.

"Thank you very much, fellas." the guards took the unspoken order and walked off before Oliver turned back to his sister. "I didn't agree to an interview. "

"Well, she's shadowing him for some type of profile, and I already tried to get her kicked out, but he was adamant about having her in there." Oliver looked over to his office door and let a sigh.

"Any advice?"

"Don't screw it up." Thea said and Oliver shook his head before heading for the door and Thea couldn't let that nagging feeling go. "Ollie-" he stopped and turned to her. "Try to talk to Twinkie again." he furrowed his brow at the woman's insistence because there seemed to be something she wasn't saying. "Trust me, just don't give up."

"I haven't and I never will." he said still looking to his sister. "Is there something you're not telling me that I should know?" Thea bit the corner of her lip because she's absolutely sure she should tell her brother about what happened on that roof last night, but she's also sure that right now probably wasn't the best time."Thea-"

"Later." Thea said and Oliver turned to her completely. "Seriously, it can wait." he stood there for a moment longer before giving her a nod and finally stepping into his office. "I hope." Thea muttered under her breath before following behind her brother.

Katie sat in the back seat of the SUV, still looking out to the high school through the tinted windows. All the kids were inside, but she couldn't help but linger a bit and look around for anything suspicious.

"Ma'am, my guys are in place inside and outside of the school." she turned at Steve's voice, the man sitting behind the wheel. "You just seem particularly nervous."

"Well a threat was made to my family, so I think being nervous is an understandable reaction." Katie says turning back to look at the school. She knew she couldn't sit out here all day...actually she could, but she also knew that she could actually be out looking for this bastard instead of waiting for him to make the first move. After a while of sitting there, she finally relented. "Ok, let's go home."

"Yes ma'am," Steve said before turning on the car and pulling off. The drive was relatively quiet. The only sound coming from the little girl strapped into her car seat, trying to tell her mother something very important.

"You have no idea how much I wish I understood what you were saying," Katie chuckled as she slid her fingers through the child's hair. "I wholeheartedly believe you probably have all the answers we're looking for." she felt the car slowing down and glanced up to see them pulling into heavy traffic. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," Steve said coming to a full stop. "I'll find out." he took out his cell phone and let out a sigh after a moment. "There's a car accident up ahead. No injuries, but they're still waiting to get the cars out of the road." the man lifted his eyes and glanced around. The lane to the right of them seemed to be moving a bit quicker. "I'll get us out of this." Soon they were driving down an unfamiliar street and Katie frowned as she looked out the window. She felt she was completely familiar with this city, but right now she felt nervous because she didn't recognize anything.

"Steve, at what point do we return to a part of the city I'm actually familiar with?" Katie asked turning to the man who seemed to nervously chuckle.

"Don't worry, I-" the car suddenly made noise, and then the car began slowing down. "What the hell?"

"What's happening?" Katie asked and the man didn't say anything as the car seemed to sputter to a stop. "Steve, what the hell is happening?"

"I'm not sure, but I will find out." he glanced over to her. "Just sit tight." and with that, the man stepped out of the car and popped open the hood. Katie sat there glancing around the car, suddenly realizing that there was not a soul around. She turned to look out the back and it was completely empty.

"This isn't right," she muttered before looking back down to her daughter and letting out a sigh.

Oliver wished he could solve some of his political problems by hitting someone. Especially now. He currently stood in front of Councilman Kullens and reporter Susan William who was shadowing him.

Oliver pulled on a smile as he continued. "Yes. Councilman, as you know, I ran on a platform of unity, but it is difficult for a city to be united when so much of the zoning within it remains exclusionary. We need to open it up, allow for more affordable housing, give the people a chance to start over and rebuild, but the second the money starts rolling in, those families get squeezed out by crony capitalists. That's not gonna happen here."

The councilman let out a huff. "Hard to believe considering your family's history. "

"I'm sorry, councilman. I don't follow."

"Well, the type of rezoning you're proposing happened downtown 25 years ago, but instead of affordable housing, we got skyrises, and one of them became the offices of Queen Consolidated."

Susan turned to Oliver. "Is that true, Mr. Mayor?" Oliver turned an annoyed look to her and she smirked. "I'll consider that a no comment."

"I can tell you have good intentions, but politics is the art of the real. I'm sorry. I'm not changing my vote." the councilman said before he and Susan walked out of the office.

Thea shook her head. "Ok. Maybe you should just put an arrow in him." Oliver just shook his head before walking around to take a seat behind his desk. "We're going to figure this out."

"I hope so," Oliver said looking back over to his sister.

"Why don't I see if I can find another way to come at this." Thea turned to leave but was stopped.

"Speedy-" Thea let out a sigh as she turned back to her brother. "Sit." the woman begrudgingly dropped into the seat in front of him. "What did you want to tell me?"

Thea dropped her head for a moment before looking back up to her brother. "The truth is I don't know. I keep going over the moment again and again and every time I question if what I saw I actually saw or maybe I imagined. it. "Thea sat back in her chair, turning away from her brother's eyes as she once again finds herself thinking of the moment she stepped on that roof.

"Thea," she turned back to her brother. "Tell me."

With another nervous breath, Thea spoke, "Last night, I went to check on Twinkie. She seemed kind of upset when she went up to the roof. I waited a bit before I actually went up there, and when I did I saw-" she hesitated for a moment because she knows her brother is going to freak out. "Look, like I said I don't know if what I think I saw is what I actually saw or- "

"Speedy!"

"Fine, she was close to the edge of the roof and it looked like-" she didn't want to finish the sentence, but Oliver saw the look on her face and didn't need her to. "Oliver I could be wrong. She had a long night and a lot happened. Maybe she didn't even realize she was that close." Oliver slid a hand across his face before looking back over to his sister. He shook his head before pulling his phone from his pocket and standing to his feet. "What are you going to do?" he didn't say anything as he headed for the door. "Ollie?" he stopped and turned back to her.

"Speedy I love you, but never keep anything this serious from me for this long when it concerns the safety of my wife." Thea just nodded and without another word, Oliver stormed out of the office toward the elevator, his phone pressed to his ear.

He spoke first when she answered. "Twinkie, we need to talk." the line was silent for a moment and she stopped. "Twinkie?"

" _Do you have my location right now?"_ Katie asked instead.

"What's wrong?"

" _I don't know. We were driving, but then there was an accident so we had to take some alternate route home, but then the car just stopped and we're in the middle of nowhere and this just doesn't feel right."_ Oliver turned and pressed the button for the elevator repeatedly trying to will the doors to hurry and open. " _I'm sitting here with Robyn and I don't like this."_

Oliver heard the tension in her voice and he had to force himself to stay calm.

"I'm coming right now. Just stay on the phone with me, ok. What's going on?"

 _"I don't- Steve got out of the car, and the hood is up, but I don't know what he's doing."_ she once again turned to look around outside. " _I have no idea where we are, and I don't see anyone at all. I just feel like we're sitting ducks."_ a tiny whimper came from Robyn who seemed to be getting stir crazy. " _It's ok,"_ Katie slid a hand across her stomach. " _Maybe I can just grab her and walk somewhere."_

"No, just stay in the car and lock the doors. " Oliver said.

" _Liver, I—what—do."_

"Twinkie, the line is breaking up," Oliver's security detail could barely keep up with him as he ran to his car. "Twinkie, can you-" he pulled the phone back and looked down to see the call had ended. He let out a frustrated growl before dialing her number once again only for it to go to voice mail. Oliver felt his heart racing, but he couldn't stop and let fear take the time he needed to get to them. Without a second thought, Oliver went rushing out the door, no longer caring that he was leaving his guards behind.

Today was the day, Bruce thought. He'd gotten home the night before only to find that Felicity wasn't there. He figured she'd be late trying to help Oliver now that Church knew his identity. He was awake when she returned home. He'd walked in just as she stepped through the door. Her eyes looked over to him, but she didn't say a word as she kicked off her shoes and headed upstairs.

This morning, he'd made a fresh pot of coffee, the kind he knows she likes. She'd be walking in soon, that first sip always putting her in a good mood and that's when he'd apologize.

As expected the woman appeared, fully dressed. She looked at him for a moment before walking over and plucking her mug from the cabinet to pour herself a cup of coffee. He watched her closely as she prepared her cup with sugar and cream before taking a sip, a content sigh escaping her lips.

"Ms. Smoak-"

"You thought you could jump on my coffee high with your apology?" she asked turning to the man. "It's not happening Bruce." she turned to leave the kitchen, but he wasn't giving up.

"I'm sorry!" he called after her and she let out a sigh but turned back to him. "Look, you were right, I shouldn't make dangerous decisions without talking to you first and yes I know helping to break John out of that prison was risky, but if it makes you feel any better I didn't even step out of the van." Felicity let out a snort as she took another sip of her coffee. Bruce's brow furrowed. "Which doesn't seem to surprise you." she looked back over to him. "How much of it was you?"

"Enough." Felicity replied before taking another sip from her cup. Bruce began inching closer and the woman rolled her eyes.

"So what do I have to do for your forgiveness?" he asked. "I could sell one of my kidneys?" she turned away, but he saw the slight smirk. "I'd shave my head if it would get me back into your good graces." she still didn't say anything. "I could do that thing you like that you refuse to admit you like." she turned to him with wide eyes.

"I told you I don't."

"But you do." she let out a huff before stalking out of the kitchen and the man just laughed as he followed after her.

"You know you seem to be forgetting the other reason I'm upset with you." Felicity walked into the living room and turned on the news. "You, and your super buddies kidnapping my friend."

"That wasn't my idea, I wasn't even apart of the planning when it came to that." Bruce said walking over to stand beside the woman, his eyes on the television as well. "And because of it, neither one of them wants anything to do with me."

"You can't say you weren't warned." Felicity said looking over to the man. "All you had to do was be the person who called him and told him what was going on. Or I don't know call me, tell me your idiot friends are going to take my friend into some moving house." she swats his arm. "You made choices Bruce. Those choices are the reason so many people are upset with you." Bruce turned to her with a sigh. "So no, you don't have a sell a kidney or shave your head. I actually like your hair the way it is." he looked at her for a moment before a grin came to his face and she just shook her head. "And I will never admit that I like when you do that thing."

"Ah, Ms. Smoak that doesn't sound like someone who doesn't like it." Bruce said and Felicity let out a sigh. He inched closer to her, placing a kiss on the skin of her exposed shoulder.

"I haven't forgiven you." she said, trying to hide the fact that she actually missed the man and just wanted to wrap her arms around him and never let him go.

"I know, but you being mad at me has never mattered much in the past once I-" he brought an arm around her and he felt her breath hitch as his fingers grabbed the zipper of her dress and began sliding it down. "Get you naked." she heard the sound of her phone ringing and Bruce stopped. Felicity moved quickly to find her phone hoping it wasn't news of Tobias finally making the move. Her heart sank when she found her phone and saw Oliver's name, but she quickly answered.

"What's wrong?"

Katie continued looking around, but with every passing second, she couldn't help the feeling that something wasn't right. She looked forward wondering what was taking Steve so long. Katie looked over to Robyn who'd nodded off to sleep, but she figured she'd be up soon. With a shake of her head, Katie turned and stepped out of the car, still scanning the area as she walks around to the front of the car.

"No, I understand," Steve said his phone pressed to his head. "I-" he turned when he heard footsteps. "No, that's all I need. As soon as possible." he quickly hung up the phone and turned to Katie. "Mrs. Queen, you really should stay in the car."

"Who was on the phone?" the man let out a sigh as he looked down at his phone.

"The second detail that was following us got stuck in traffic behind the accident, but they said they're finally moving. They're on their way here. Shouldn't be too long." Katie looked at him for a moment before she turned to look under the hood. "It's the fuel pump. It's clogged."

"I thought these vehicles were inspected regularly?" Katie asking looking over at the man. "At least that's what I assumed would happen to prevent moments like this."

"They are, but obviously something was missed." he said and Katie looked at him for a moment. "I will deal with the team in charge of vehicle maintenance and I will ensure this never happens again."

"Never ha-" Katie turned at the sound of her daughter's cries and let out a sigh before turning back to the man. "This will be a conversation later." she hurried back inside the car to check on her daughter.

They were sitting there longer than Katie wanted and she shook her head. She rolled down the window.

"How much longer will we be waiting for that team?!" Katie called over to Steve who still stood outside of the car.

"They will be here soon ma'am," he replied, and she could've sworn there was annoyance laced in his tone. He kept his back to her, so she couldn't see his face. "Please raise the window, it's-" he turned with a frown at the sight of a car he didn't expect to see. Katie turned as well and let a relieved sigh at the sight of Oliver. She strapped Robyn back into her car seat, and not long after she heard yelling. She quickly turned to see Oliver dangerously close to Steve and it looked as if he were going to hit him. Katie opened the door and ran out to grab Oliver's arm.

"Hey, this isn't happening now." she said and Oliver stopped and looked down at her. "Just take us home." Oliver gave a nod before turning a glare to Steve.

"You are going to take care of the car and then you are going to see me so you can explain why I was never informed that my wife and daughter were forced to sit in a car in the middle of nowhere when I explicitly told you to be extra cautious because of threats made to me and my family. I have no idea what's going on with you Steve, but this should absolutely never happen."

"Sir, I apologize, but-"

"When it comes to my wife and daughter, your excuses mean absolutely nothing to me. Take care of the car and then find me and explain how this happened. Explain why the additional guards assigned to protect them, aren't even here right now." Oliver shook his head, once again feeling Katie tug his arm. He let out a sigh before bringing his arms around her in an embrace that helped secure his sanity.

Oliver slid a hand over his face as he peeked through the window of his house and looked out to see the guards that were patrolling around the neighborhood.

He turned, phone pressed to his ear. "No, Thea, I'm sure. They're both fine, I just think I should stick around here for a bit."

"Fine, I will have everything settled here, but Ollie, I know you're planning on trying to get Katie to talk to you, I just think you shouldn't push too hard." Oliver turned at the sound of footsteps coming downstairs.

"I got to go Thea." Oliver said before ending the call and walking out to the hall where he saw Katie coming downstairs. She stopped when she saw him and almost looked surprised to see him.

"You didn't have to stick around." Katie said coming down and stopping for a moment to look at him. She shook her head. "I probably blew everything out of proportion." she turned and headed for the kitchen. "If you need to head back to City Hall, you can just go." Oliver followed her into the kitchen and watched as she moved about to make coffee. Once the coffee was in the coffee maker, she let out a sigh before turning to find his eyes on her. "Yes, Oliver?"

"I don't think you blew anything out of proportion. You and Robyn, sitting in a car in the middle of an open street is beyond dangerous especially if Tobias Church was watching you." Katie dropped her head and turned to look out the window that viewed the backyard. She let out a sigh as she looked out to the guards that moved about the yard. "I'm not going back to City Hall." he watched as Katie dropped her head and sighed. "And I can see how happy that makes you." she turned an unamused look his way and he couldn't help but smile. "We need to talk."

"Do we?" she moved across the kitchen to grab a coffee mug. "Can't we just not talk and focus on the crazy person who is targeting our family?"

"Thea told me about last night." Oliver said and Katie paused, her back still facing him. "Twinkie, tell me what happened?"

"Nothing happened." she muttered taking her mug and walking over to the coffee maker. She felt his eyes on her, and she knew her answer wouldn't be enough for him.

"I don't believe you." he said and Katie placed the mug on the counter before turning to him. "Just tell me." she looked at him and there were so many words inside of her, so many feelings, and she feels letting them out would be too much for her to handle. "C'mon Twinkie, we've done this before. You locking everything inside hurts you." he moved around the counter to stand in front of her. "You do not have to handle this alone." Katie looked at him for a moment before dropping her head. She turned around, grabbed her mug, and poured herself a cup of coffee before taking a long appreciative sip. She turned back to Oliver, her cup still in her hands as he watched her waiting for her to say something.

"You know I remember everything." she finally said looking over to him before dropping her eyes to her coffee. "Even when-" she shook her head before looking back up to Oliver. "Even when that thing, that "It" controlled everything. It was like I was strapped to a chair, forced to watch this thing say and do terrible things." she let her fingers slide across the hot mug as memories of that time flood her thoughts and she let out a shaky breath. "And the rational side of my brain tells me that, it wasn't me because I wouldn't-" she looked up to see Oliver's eyes still focused on her. "I hurt you, I know I hurt you." Oliver walked over to stand in front of her and she shook her head.

"That wasn't you." Oliver said and Katie just turned away from him.

"Yeah, but it still hurts." she turned around to once again look out the window. She felt Oliver appear behind her, wrapping his arms around her. "Oliver you want me to tell you everything that's going on in my head right now, but I don't think I can do that without completely falling apart which can't happen." she turned away with a shake of her head. "People are targeting our family, we have a toddler who will soon be able to have actual conversations with us, and then we have a teenager who has been focusing more on being a vigilante than being a teenager." she turned in his arms and looked up to his eyes. "And my husband, the mayor is stretching himself very thin with all the hats he wears." she pulls out of his grasp and walks around the counter away from him. "So I don't get to fall apart. Let's just drop this. I'm going to call Felicity and see if she has had any luck with-" she turned back to Oliver who stood there watching her. "You're not letting this go."

"I'm not." he replied before walking over to her, taking the coffee mug out of her hands and sitting it on the counter. Without a word he grabbed the woman and tossed her over his shoulder fireman style.

"What-" Katie squawked, her legs flailing. "What the hell are you doing? Put me down!"

Oliver gave her a slap to her butt. "Hey, will you hold still!" he said carrying the woman out of the kitchen and down the hall. He only stopped when he stepped in front of the basement door.

"I'm so gonna kick your ass when you put me down." she said as he carried her down the basement. "You're so annoying." he didn't put her down until after he opened the sliding wall that hid the combat room. Once her feet touched the mat she didn't hesitate to shove him before flipping her hair back from her face. She attempted to move around him to leave, but he moved to block her. "So you actually want me to kick your ass?"

"If that will help you." he said as he took off his jacket and tossed it on the floor. "Or you can yell and scream, you can throw things and you can break things." he turned back to her. "I can't imagine what you're going through, and I won't even pretend to, but I won't allow you to ever feel as if you can't take the time to feel what you're feeling. I don't care what's happening in our lives, if you need to fall apart, you can fall apart and I will help put you back together." Katie looked at him for a moment before turning around and sliding a hand over her face.

"Except I don't want to feel what I'm feeling, Liver." she turned back to him. "I get you want to help me, and you want me to feel better, and you want me to just be who I was, but I-" she turned away, suddenly struck with the image of holding a bloody knife above a dead Thea. Oliver's hands on her shoulders brought her back to the moment and she turned to meet his eyes.

"Twinkie, what I want is for you to just be ok." she shook her head before pulling from his grasp. "Just tell me what you need."

"I want you to yell." she said before turning back to him. "I want to scream. I want you to tell me how much I hurt you." Oliver looked at her for a moment, but he didn't say anything. "Oliver, neither one of us wants to feel what we're trying not to feel. Let's just-"

"We shouldn't have come back to Star City." he said interrupting her. "We were happy in that house in Coast City, and we were fine. We had friends, and I cooked you dinner and it was just normal." Oliver reached up and loosened his tie before pulling it off. "And you didn't want to go, but you didn't-" he shook his head before turning back to her. "You-"

"I agreed to come back."

"But you didn't want to and instead of telling me that, instead of being honest with me with how you felt, you chose to not say anything. Much like you're doing now."

"You were needed, and what I felt-"

"What you felt, what you feel is important to me." Oliver said taking a step toward her, but she moved away and he shook his head at the move. "You didn't want me to run for mayor-"

"So has this conversation veered to our best hits because I don't see the point. "

"No, you accused me of not wanting to feel what I feel, and right now I'm choosing to feel it." he said and Katie let out a huff. "I'm frustrated that you hide from me even though I've told you that you didn't have to. We're partners, you and me and all I want is for you to share with me how you actually feel about the decisions in our lives." he took a step toward her. "I don't want you to view me as another person in your life who doesn't allow you to actually decide where your life goes." she turned back to him. "Yes, I'm angry, at you and me, and at the fact that this wasn't as easy as I hoped it would be. And I'm sad that you pull away from me when I touch you and I don't know why. I'm heartbroken that you would rather be trapped in the twisted hell in your head than here with me and your family."

Not saying a word, Katie looks at him. Her eyes locked onto his and he can tell that she's trying to figure out a way to finally open up. She just shakes her head before turning and walking over to sit against the wall. Oliver let out a sigh before walking over and taking a seat on the floor in front of her.

"What happened on the roof?" he asked again and she once again met his eyes.

"The roof," she whispers before turning away. "I wanted it to stop." she bites her lip to stop herself from just falling apart at that moment. She turns back to him. "The hell in my head was easier to handle because that was all there was. It's easier to feel guilty and self-pity when you have no one elses' feelings to worry about. " she slides her fingers through her hair. "Here, every memory is vivid. Every sick and demented thing- I had to just watch and it's so clear in my mind and it plays on this loop in my head. And every second I have to somehow not let those horrible memories totally consume me. And while doing that I have to make sure bad guys don't hurt my family, I have to make sure my daughter and my cousin are safe and feel loved," she reached forward and took his hand grasping it. "I have to make sure I don't lose the love of my life in all of my craziness and his and it's hard." she dropped her head when the tears she knew would fall from her eyes at some point finally did. Oliver reached forward and brushed the tears away with his fingers. "I pull away from you Oliver-" she looked back up to meet his eyes. "Because I don't feel like I deserve to be loved the way you love me, and I don't deserve to be touched or kissed because of what I did-" she shook her head as more tears fell. She pulled her hands from his and stood to her feet about to walk away, but Oliver caught her arm, before once again wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back to him. "I don't deserve your forgiveness."

"Good, because you don't need it." Oliver said before pressing a kiss to the crook of her neck. "I know it's hard for you to understand this, but what happened was not your fault."

"I let myself be taken away from you." she whispered. "Taken away from Robyn and Ari and I can't get that time back." Oliver spun the woman around to face him and he took in a deep breath as he looked at her. He just wanted her to feel just an ounce of what he felt for her. He placed a hand on her cheek.

"You're here now and that's all that matters to me." Oliver said before placing a kiss on her lips. He dropped his forehead against hers. "I just need you to be here with me." Oliver wrapped his arms around her, and Katie couldn't help but sink into the embrace.

Ari was actually surprised nothing out of the ordinary happened at school today. Of course, there were looks and whispers about the party and that fight, but she didn't really care about that. Tobias Church knew Oliver's identity which meant the possibility of some sort of attack on the Mayor and his family, which meant she was a possible target.

She hated that she actually wanted one of his thugs to pop up so she could beat the crap out of them. But it was pretty much quiet. When school was over, she stopped by her locker to retrieve the books and jacket. She was about to head for the door when she was stopped in the hall by Principal Harris, who she tried to avoid all day.

"Principal Harris, hi, I was just heading out. I'm not supposed to be late or people freak and I-" she began moving around the man. "I wouldn't want to get in trouble."

"Well, then I won't keep you." Principal Harris said before holding out an envelope to Ari. "I've made calls to both Oliver and Katherine and haven't gotten any responses so I have this note I would like you to give them." Ari took the note nervously before looking back at the man. "It is important that I speak with them."

"May I ask what about?"

The man gave her a knowing look. "I think it's best I spoke with your guardians." and with that, the man turned and walked away. Ari looked down at the envelope and let out a heavy sigh.

When she walked outside, she didn't expect to find Oliver standing on the side of his car, a small group of teens around him as he laughs and talks to them. He looks up and meets her eyes, saying something so all the teens turn to her and her eyes widen as she walks over. Oliver pulls open the passenger door and she steps inside. Once he gets inside and pulls off, she finally turns to him.

"What the hell was that?" she asks and Oliver turns to her with a furrowed brow.

"You know I thought it was obvious, but how about you lay off the swearing." Oliver said with a shake of his head before turning to the road. "And what are you talking about?"

"You never pick me up from school." She said as she turned to look out the window. "And you never wait for me outside so all the sheep can fangirl over the Mayor Handsome gag." Oliver once again looks over to her with a quirked brow.

"I think I should be offended, but I didn't understand half of what you just said." Oliver said. "And I decided to pick you up after an incident that happened this afternoon." Ari turned back to the man.

"Was it Tobias?"

"No, he still hasn't made any moves." Oliver said letting out a sigh. "It was just an issue with the car that Katie and Robyn were in and I just didn't want to risk anything so I decided to pick you up." he glanced over to her and she just nodded. "So how was school."

"It was school." Ari turned away before holding up the envelope. "I got a note for my guardians from Principal Harris." Oliver frowned as he looked over to the envelope. "So there's a chance I could be expelled."

"You're not going to be expelled. We'll talk to him." Oliver turned back to the road. "After you talk to us." Ari looked over to the man as the car stopped at a light and he turned to her. "Which you are going to do." the girl just rolled her eyes before turning away from him. The teen remained silent for the rest of the drive.

Without a word, Ari stepped out of the car the moment Oliver stopped in front of the house. Oliver followed her inside and watched as she started up the stairs.

"Ari, kitchen!" Katie's voice called and the teen stopped mid-step before looking over to Oliver who glanced up to her before heading into the kitchen. With a huff, Ari stomped down the stairs and into the kitchen where she found Oliver and Katie sitting at the table. "Sit."

Ari dropped into the chair across from them. "Before you even start, it wasn't my fault. She showed up to my party to mess with me and then she-" Ari shook her head.

"She kissed Jamie." Katie said and Ari turned to her. "A boy you liked." Ari didn't say anything. "So you hit her because that was the rational way to handle that situation."

"No," Ari muttered. "But after the day we had, it was the only solution I had at the moment." she looked over to Oliver who was speaking. "Look, you want to punish me, whatever, but you can't let her just get away with-"

"With kissing a boy you liked?" Oliver asked and Ari's eyes widen before standing to her feet. "Ari, wait, don't-" the girl was about to walk upstairs. "You walk up those stairs and you're off the team!" the girl came to a halt and turned to him. "Sit down." Ari begrudgingly stomped over back to sit. "I will deal with Evelyn, but right now we're dealing with you."

"Ari, I'm all for you feeling empowered, but this is the second time you've reverted to violence to solve a problem when there were other options." Katie said and Ari looked over to her with a shake of her head. "Please tell me you understand that?"

Ari let out a huff. "Yes, believe it or not, I get that I screwed up. I shouldn't have started those fights. But you both have to see that in both situations I was the one antagonized and in both situations, I think I proved that I won't just stand there and take it."

"Ari, what we just heard wasn't you taking accountability for your actions, but justifications." Oliver said and Ari turned away from him. She didn't say anything and Oliver and Katie just looked at her waiting for her to just get it, but she wasn't.

"A couple of months ago you and Oliver had a conversation." Katie said and both Oliver and Ari turned to her. "When I...when I wasn't me, you were confused and curious and so he finally revealed to you the truth of our lives. " Katie dropped her head for a moment before looking back over to Ari. "And I'm sure he covered all of the important parts, but it doesn't change the fact that I wished I was there. The truth Ari, if I were around you would never have known about the Green Arrow or the Guardian or any of it." Ari looked confused. "If I were around you would not be a member of that team."

"What are-" Ari started but Katie held up a hand to stop her.

"But we can't change what happened and we can't change what is. You know the truth, and you are now apart of a team of heroes and I don't think me or Oliver-" she looked over to Oliver who still watched her. "Understood how this would work." she turned back to Ari. "But I think I know where we should start. You will not be kicked off the team, but your time as Fire Light will be reduced."

"Are you kidding me?"

"I am not."

"She's right." Oliver said and Ari turned to him. "Ari, you're too young to have your entire focus be fighting the lowlifes in this city. You deserve to hang out with friends, to join a school club. Ari, you deserve to live in the light for as long as you can before you decide you want to dive into the darkness."

Ari shook her head. "You want me to be normal when that's impossible." she turned back to them. "My father stole millions from his family's company before trying to kill a man." she turned to Katie. "After he was killed by my cousin, my mother thought justice would only be served by forcing the police to arrest her using a restaurant full of people as leverage. So you see I was forced into the darkness a long time ago and I think I should get to decide how I navigate through it. I choose to fight." Ari turned from Katie to Oliver, waiting for them to say something.

"I get your life has been tough Ari, and you've had to deal with way more than you should, but this will be a moment when we play the guardian card." Katie said and Ari huffed and stood to her feet. "This is happening. You are going to focus on the life you have without that mask. You may not believe it, but you can make more of a difference without it."

"Is that it?" Ari asked, clearly upset. "Can I go to my room now?"

"Yes, I will be up later for your phone and laptop and any other device you could use to take over the world." Katie said and the teen didn't even respond before turning and stalking upstairs to her room. "I'm sorry, I didn't talk to you about any of that before-" Oliver reached over and took her hand and she turned to him.

"I'm sorry I told her about all of this without you." Oliver said and Katie shook her head.

"Don't." she squeezed his hand. "You made a parental decision and I know you wouldn't have done it if you didn't think it was for the best." Oliver slid an arm around her and tugged her into an embrace that Katie simply sank into. "I almost afraid now to ask her what she thinks of us adopting her."

"She just needs some time. She will see that this was for the best." Oliver placed a kiss on her head. "I should get started on dinner." and with that Oliver stood to his feet and Katie looked over to him with a slight smile.

"I can't remember the last time you cooked." Katie suddenly said and Oliver stopped for a moment before looking back over to her.

"Neither can I." Oliver said with a shake of his head before looking over to her. "I'm going to change that."

"I know." Katie said before standing to her feet. "I should go check on Robyn." Katie headed for the steps, but stopped and turned back to Oliver. "Oh, just a heads up, I will talk to Evelyn." Oliver looked over to her with a furrowed brow.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Oliver said and Katie simply smiled. "What are you going to do, Twinkie?"

"Don't worry I'm not going to beat her up." Katie said turning. "I mean when I'm done with her, she may wish that I did."

Dinner in the Queen household was quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the clinking of silverware against plates and the playful mutterings of little Robyn who seemed to be wearing most of her food. Oliver looked up from his plate with a slight smile. Katie was right. They hadn't sat down for a meal in what feels like forever. He glanced over to Ari who avoids their gaze as she silently picked at her food.

"So I'm thinking this should be a regular thing." Oliver said breaking the silence and they turned to him. "Us, sitting down and eating dinner, like a family." Ari let out a snort before looking down at his plate. "I'm sure you'll like the idea more when you're in a better mood."

"Don't hold your breath." the teen muttered.

"How was school?" Katie asked, hoping to veer the conversation. "Any sign of Tobias?" Ari looked over to her and shook her head.

"Nope, it was a quiet normal day. Well except for the letter from Principal Harris which I'm sure was a note calling for my expulsion."

"No, he just wants to meet with me and Katie." Oliver said and the girl turned to him. "It seems like that video was brought to his attention and he would like to know what it's about."

"The fight didn't happen at school or on school property, so legally there are no grounds for expulsion." Katie said as she looks over at the teen. "So did you see Jamie?" Ari rolled her eyes as she looked back down to her plate.

"I don't want to talk about it." the girl said before letting out a huff and dropping her fork. "Actually, I'm not really that hungry, can I just go back up to my room, or does that like violate the terms of this ridiculous punishment."

"You can go up to your room Ari, and I expect a very different attitude when you talk to us again, is that clear?" Katie said and Ari turned to her and just gave a nod before turning and heading upstairs. Katie turned to Oliver who sat back in his chair and let out a sigh. "And you want to make this a regular thing?" the man couldn't help but laugh. Katie turned back to Robyn who was pretty much covered in mashed potatoes. "I think it's bath time, what do you say little bird?" Robyn muttered something totally unintelligible that made Katie smile. "I'm going to take that as a yes." she turned to Oliver. "I will get this kid clean and to bed and I will help clean up." she stood to her feet and plucked Robyn from her booster seat. "Have you talked to John? Any luck with Rene?"

"John says he isn't getting much from Rene, but he isn't being that helpful." Oliver said and Katie looked over to him and sighed. "You want to see him."

"I want to talk to him. He's been through a lot and I understand what that feels like. Maybe I could help." Oliver dropped his napkin on his plate and looked back over to Katie who just shook her head. "Which you don't agree with?"

"Twinkie, I just think it's safer if-" she didn't even let him finish before she turned to carry little Robyn upstairs. "So I guess that's what family dinners are like." Oliver lifted his head at the sound of the doorbell and stood to his feet to see who was at the door. He pulled back the curtain of the window beside the door to see Steve standing there. Oliver suddenly felt that surge of annoyance and anger but took a deep breath before pulling open the door.

"Sir." Steve greeted and Oliver simply took a step to the side to allow the man in.

"Come in, Steve." Oliver said.

Felicity Smoak was confused. She sat in her home office, her eyes on the monitor of her computer. The door to her office opened and she glanced over to see Bruce before turning back to the screen.

"You've been in here for a while. " he said taking a seat in the chair across from her. "Any chance you'll be coming down for dinner?"

"I'm busy at the moment, Bruce." Felicity said, her eyes still scanning the screen.

"Well, that's a serious look. News on Tobias?"

"No, everything is quiet on the Tobias front. This is-" Felicity tilted her head as she looked at the screen. "Well, I'm not quite sure what this is." Bruce stood to his feet with a furrowed brow and walked around to see what had the woman confused. "After the whole weird car issue with Katie, I decided to do a bit of digging."

"Didn't Steve say it was a clogged fuel pump?" Bruce asked as he looked down to the screen to see what looked like a data file on all things Steve Miller. "You're doing a search on Steve. I thought you ran background before he was chosen."

"I did, and everything came back clean when I did." Felicity said.

"So what are you looking for now?"

"Steve is the lead guard for the team that protects Oliver and Katie and the kids. He's formal military, and then went into personal security for the last ten years." Felicity said. "Today, he deviated from their normal route, got separated from his team before the car carrying his boss and her daughter stopped in the middle of some unknown street and absolutely no one from his team or Oliver was notified." she looked over to Bruce. "That's not the type of mistake someone with Steve's experience would make." Bruce frowned because she was right. He turned back to the screen. "And then it got me to thinking. He and his team not able to catch Ari when she sneaks out, or the mysterious stranger slipping a death threat under the door."

"Wait, what?" Bruce turned to Felicity. "There's a death threat?"

"There's a death threat." Felicity said before pulling up the surveillance video. "This happened while you and Oliver were in the middle of your prison break." Bruce watched the hooded figure move up the walkway before slipping something under the door and simply walking away without any intervention. "According to Steve's report of this, there was a mix up with the posts and the guard who was supposed to be in the front of the house was in the back and the guard that was supposed to be in the back was down the block."

"Seriously? That was his explanation."

"He said a few members of his team quit and so he had to bring in some new guards and apparently they have no idea what they're doing." Felicity shook her head before turning back to the screen. "I have a bad feeling. I have nothing definite and I think I should have some kind of proof before I bring this to Oliver."

"You need proof?" Bruce said and Felicity turned to him and gave him a nod. "Then let's get you proof, Ms. Smoak."

"And how are we going to do that?" Felicity said standing to her feet.

"Well, you and I are going to do some investigating." Bruce said with a smile. "So what do you say partner?" he held out a hand to the woman who simply looked at the man with a shake of her head. She knew this was part of some elaborate plan to get her to forgive him. The truth was she'd already forgiven him, but she just hasn't told him yet. She thinks she likes a groveling Bruce Wayne. Felicity simply took his hand and shook it, not expecting him to pull her to his chest.

Felicity squealed at the sudden move before swatting his chest. "Where do we start?"

"He's an old army buddy of John's right?" Bruce asked and Felicity nodded. "Then I'll start there."

"I guess I can do some even deeper digging. Him being a friend of Johns and having his sign of approval and I didn't think I needed to go that deep, but maybe I was wrong."

"We're going to find out, but first I feed you." Bruce slid an arm around the woman, glad she didn't pull away as they headed out of the office.

Oliver once again found himself standing near the window of the living room as he watched the guards patrolling. He'd just heard Steve's description of events.

"Sir, with the threat level you informed me about, I felt deviating from the route was the best course of action. I wasn't aware of the issues with the vehicle, but I have reprimanded the team responsible for maintenance. I was told it was mistakenly missed during the vehicle inspection." Oliver didn't say anything and that just made Steve even more nervous. "Sir, I assure you nothing like this will happen again."

"Steve, you just listed off several mistakes, that you as the head of security should ensure never happens." Oliver turned to the man. "Everything you told me was preventable, and yet my wife and daughter were both put in possible danger." Oliver dropped his head before looking back up to Steve. "Steve, I brought you on because John told me that you were the guy that I could trust to protect my family, and the fact that it came from John only made me so quick in my decision to hire you and your team. When I interviewed you and every meeting we have before your hiring, I've stressed and stressed how important the safety of my family is. When I am not around, I entrust in you and your team the most important people in my life, so I don't care about who messed what up, or who didn't inspect the damn car. I care about situations like today never happening." Oliver took a step forward. "Steve I asked you before I offered you this job if you thought you could do it and you told me you could."

"Sir, I completely understand that these things can not and should not happen. I take personal responsibility for my team. You can believe that I will make sure nothing like this happens again." Steve replied and Oliver looked at him for a moment. At the moment, he still needed security and with Tobias Church lurking around, there wasn't much time to vet a new team. Oliver slid a hand over his face because he wasn't completely sure but he looked back up to the man.

"Fine, but any more mistakes, any more inspections get missed then I'm afraid I'm going to have to let you and your team go." Oliver said and Steve gave a nod. "Steve, seriously just do whatever you have to do to make sure that when I'm not around, my family is safe."

"Yes, sir. You have my word." Steve said with a nod before turning and leaving. Oliver watched as the man headed for the door but stopped.

"Was there something else?" Oliver asked and Steve stood there for a moment before looking over to the man and just shaking his head.

"No sir," Steve said before walking out the door.

That night Oliver once again found himself standing in front of their bedroom door. He let out a sigh before turning about to head back to the guest room but stopped when the door pulled open.

Katie stood there in her pajamas looking back over to the man. "I got tired of waiting for you to work up the courage to actually come in."

"I wasn't sure I should." he replied honestly. "I wasn't sure you wanted me to." Katie looked at him for a moment before turning around and walking back into the room. Oliver stood in the hall for a moment before finally walking into the room, closing the door behind him. He watched as Katie walked over to lie on the bed on top of the covers.

"This morning when you came into the kitchen and you and Ari had these looks." Katie looked over to the man. "You thought I had left, right?"

"Honestly, I wasn't sure what I thought." Oliver said walking over to lie beside her on the bed.

"You're a terrible liar." she said lightly swatting his arm. They sat there in a comfortable silence until Katie once again spoke. "I didn't sleep last night." Oliver looked over to her, her eyes looking straight ahead to the door. "I took a shower and I put on my pajamas and I just stared at the bed." she frowned slightly. "I was terrified of lying down and falling asleep and dreaming about it." she glanced over to him. "When I'm awake, I can stop the never-ending hell loop in my head with a distraction, but if I fall asleep then I-"

"No longer have a choice." Oliver said and Katie gave a nod, her eyes turning back to the door. "Twinkie, you're going to get through this." she once again turned to him. "You're strong, and I know it seems impossible, but I promise you are going to find your way out of all of those emotions that you don't want to feel." he reached over, taking her hand in his and placing a kiss on her fingers. "And so am I." He pulled his hand from hers, only to slip it around her back and tug her closer to him. He was glad she didn't pull away as she dropped her head on his chest and brought her arm around his middle and even crossing her leg over his. He placed a kiss on top of her head.

"You know I really love you." Katie said nuzzling her head against his chest.

She felt his grasp around her tighten a bit. "And I really like you, like a lot." he said and they both laughed, and soon after they both fell asleep.

The next morning, Oliver opened his eyes, a smile instantly tugging at the corners of his lips. He tilted his head, slightly craning his neck to see his wife's body tangled around his own and he wouldn't dare move her. He turned his body slightly, bringing his other arm around her. The move seemed to stir the woman who let out a sigh as her grip around him tightened a bit.

"You're awake," she muttered through a sleep-filled voice. "Did you need to get up?"

Oliver placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Not yet." he tightened his grasp around her and they laid like that for a while longer.

The couple wished they could lie in bed for the entire day, but the reality was, there was a toddler who was just as impatient as her father and wanted to be changed and fed. There was a teenager still giving them the silent treatment, and there was still that gray cloud hanging over their head that was Tobias Church and the attack they knew was coming.

After everyone was up and ready for the day, Oliver decided he would drive Ari to school, Katie, and Robyn with him. There was a team of guards who followed close behind, but after what happened the day before, Oliver wasn't chancing any more mistakes.

The car ride was silent, the only sound coming from the low volume of the morning radio station. They were stopped at a red light when Oliver glanced up to the rearview mirror to see Ari's eyes looking out the window.

"So how long do you plan on giving us the silent treatment?" Oliver asked and the girl glanced over to him only to roll her eyes and turn back out to look out the window. When he finally came to a stop in front of the school, Ari jumped out of the car without a word. Katie watched the girl with a shake of her head.

"I so want to scream an, " _I love you honey'_ at her right now, but I'm afraid she'd kill us in our sleep." Katie said with a sigh before looking over to Oliver whose eyes were scanning the area. She turned and did the same. "We can't keep this up." Oliver glanced over to her and she turned to him. "I can't spend every day worried about some psycho sneaking into her school and taking her and hurting her."

"Felicity says there are still no signs of him. He's going to make a move and-"

"And I can't just sit and wait for that to happen." Katie replied turning to look back to the school as all the kids filed inside. "I don't like that he knows how to hurt us."

"Neither do I, but at this point, there's nothing left to do but wait. I've got in touch with John's friend and there's a plan." Katie looks over at him with a furrowed brow. "I have to steal another page out of your playbook."

When Katie noticed they weren't going home, she looked over to Oliver. "Where are we going?"

"I have a go to City Hall," Oliver said before turning to her. "And you and Robyn are coming with me." Katie looked at him for a moment to see if he was serious. "I know what you're going to say."

"Which makes this all the more upsetting. Oliver you can't just bring us to work with you."

"Except I can. I'm the boss." he says with a smile before turning and continuing down the road.

Oliver stood in the elevator beside Katie, his eyes down to Robyn who was happily playing with her stuffed toy, his two guards in front of them. He was blatantly ignoring the look on Katie's face. She'd argued with him the entire drive and only stopped once they stepped inside of the building. Once the doors of the elevator opened the guards step out, and Oliver brought an arm around Katie to follow.

"This is ridiculous." she whispered over to him and he looked over to her with a smile. "And now you're smiling. I don't want to hit you while you're being the mayor, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to."

"Twinkie, you can rant and threaten to hit me all you like, but it's not changing anything." Oliver said and the woman turned away with a roll of her eyes. They stopped when Thea stepped from her office, her eyes going wide at the sight of Katie and Robyn.

"Hi, I didn't know-" she looked over to Oliver. "I didn't know they were coming in. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, we're just being cautious." Oliver says looking over to Katie who looks over to him. "So Katie and Robyn will stick around here until it's time for us to pick up Ari from school." he turned back to Thea who gave him a nod before turning to Katie who was avoiding her gaze.

"Uh, why is Susan Williams in your office?" Thea asked turning back to Oliver.

"I agreed to an off-camera interview." Oliver said and both Katie and Thea looked at him in confusion.

"Susan Williams?" Katie said with a furrowed brow. "Isn't she that reporter who accused you of not making any decisions around here?" Katie turned away in thought. "I think I was supposed to beat her up."

Oliver turned to her with a shake of his head. "You're not beating her up."

"Ok, come here." Thea said before stepping into her office and they all stepped inside. "Ok. So did you go out last night as the Green Arrow and get hit really hard in the head?" Thea asked and Oliver let out a sigh.

"Thea, Susan Williams is in our lives."

"Well-" Katie said and Oliver turned back to her and shook his head.

"You're not beating her up." he said before turning back to Thea. "And if we don't make her an ally then she will remain an enemy."

"But she's poison."

"Well, it turns out that if you ingest small amounts of poison over time you can develop an immunity." Oliver said and Katie turned to him with a furrowed brow.

"No you can't." she said with a shake of her head. "You could and could is even a stretch, somehow develop a tolerance, but even that isn't a sure-fire way to not get yourself killed." Oliver and Thea both looked at her and Katie shook her head before turning to Oliver.

"Ok, but I'm still going." he turned and held out a hand for Katie to follow, but she didn't move. He turned back to her with a furrowed.

"Seriously, you have an interview right now. We're not going in there with you. This woman already has this perception of you that you have no mind of your own. If you're doing the interview, we shouldn't be there, plus we'd be a distraction."

"They can wait here until the interview is done." Thea said and both Oliver and Katie turned to her.

"We don't want to distract you from your work either," Katie said before turning back to Oliver. "We should just go home. Remember that whole thing about you not making me feel as if I didn't have any control." Oliver looked at her with wide eyes. "Well—"

"This is different, and I will tell you how, after this interview I'm going to be late for it if I don't leave now." Oliver said before looking over to Thea before turning back to Katie. "Fine, you should stay here, that will at least prevent you from trying to beat her up." he brought his arms around her waist and pulled her to him before placing a kiss on her lips. He turned and dropped a kiss to Robyn's cheek causing the girl to lightly giggle and reach her hands out to him, making him feel that much more guilty for having to leave. "I'll be back before you know it sweetie." he turned back to Katie. "Just wait for me." and with that, the man turned and hurried out to head down to his office.

Thea let out a sigh before turning a smile to Katie. "So, could I get you guys something while you wait?" Katie didn't say anything as she looked over to the woman and Thea visibly deflated. "You're upset with me, I get it, but I was freaking out. I didn't know what happened on that roof. I just thought Oliver should know so he could help you."

"It's fine Thea," Katie says turning for the door. "Seriously, if you're busy we can find somewhere else-" she opened the door, stopping at the sight of one of the guards standing in front of the door. "Why aren't you guarding the mayor?" the guard turned to her.

"Mayor Queen instructed that I was to stick with you and your daughter ma'am." the guard replied and Katie let out a sigh. So much for a clean getaway. She just shook her head before closing the door and turning back to Thea.

"He's just worried." Thea said.

"I know and I get it." Katie looked down at her daughter before looking back over to Thea. "Ok, we'll stay, but we don't want to distract you, so just work on whatever you're working on and pretend like we're not even here." Katie grabbed the handles of Robyn's stroller and pulled her to the other side of the room where she took a seat on the couch before unstrapping the girl and bringing her to her lap.

Oliver was regretting this interview but just continued to tell himself to remain calm and just tell the truth.

"You seem like a nice guy, but you're not a real politician." Susan accused and Oliver just let out a breath with a nod.

"I am underqualified."

"Vastly, and the city, my home, is suffering because of it." Oliver wanted to say so much, but bit his tongue and continued with trying to keep the room calm.

"I appreciate the fact that I haven't earned your trust yet. Susan, as someone who professes to care about Star City, I think that you owe it to the people of Star City to give me an opportunity to earn that trust, and I promise you I can't do that if I'm spending all of my energy dodging all of these grenades that you're lobbying at me, so here's my idea. You give me one month with no attacks. Let me show you what I can do, and if I don't deliver... It's open season." the woman looked at him for a moment before standing to her feet and he did the same.

"One month." the woman agreed before holding out her hand. "You should know Mayor, that if you have not shown me and this city that you're up to this job, then I will not be holding back." Oliver shook the woman's hand with a nod before walking her to the door. He opened the door for the woman only to stop when he noticed Katie pushing Robyn's stroller toward them and she stopped when she saw them too. Katie came to a stop in front of them, her eyes going from Oliver to Susan.

"Mrs. Queen, I didn't know you were here." the woman said pulling on a bright smile before holding out her hand to Katie. Katie pulled a smile of her own, even though she has no idea where it came from. She couldn't help but subtly look the woman over. She'd seen the woman on television before, but to see her in real life and to see just how pretty she was and just how perfect her hair was and she couldn't help that slight twinge of insecurity as she looked at the woman standing beside her husband.

"Yeah, I came in to visit this guy." Katie says shaking the woman's hand before turning to Oliver. "I was with Thea, but we were becoming a bit of a distraction and I thought it best if we found somewhere else to wait." she turned back to Susan. "If we're interrupting, we can go-" she glanced down the hall. "I could find someone to give me an actual tour of this place."

"No, it's fine, we just finished up the interview." Oliver said and Katie turned back to him.

"Great." Katie said turning back to Susan before moving out of the way to let her out.

"You know Mrs. Queen, I'm just going to come out and say it since I don't know when I would get the opportunity again." Susan reached into her purse and pulled out a business card. "The entire city is so anxious to hear your story."

"My story?" Katie asked and the woman looked back up with a nod.

"Of course. You helped the police catch a monster and then you ended up in a coma and woke up months later with no memory of the last couple of years of your life. But here you are trying to get it all back." the woman handed Katie the card and Katie unsure what to do just took it. "When you're ready to share your story, please call me and I will help you tell it." the woman gave a nod before moving around the woman and headed down the hall. Katie turned and watched the woman for a moment.

"She seems nice I think." Katie said before turning to Oliver. "She's pretty too." Oliver looked down at the woman who he thinks was waiting for him to react to that statement.

"I didn't notice." Oliver said, bringing an arm around the woman to pull her into his office. He placed a kiss on her cheek, before turning to his daughter and unstrapping her from her stroller.

"Sure you didn't." Katie says. She smiled as she watched as Oliver carried the girl with him to his desk and sat down. Robyn's eyes lit up at all the things on her father's desk and couldn't wait to try to grab them, but Oliver kept a firm grasp around her to stop her. Katie walked over to take a seat in front of the desk and Oliver looked over to her with a smile. "I find it hard to believe that the Mayor doesn't have anything important to do and can spend his day playing with his daughter."

"Don't forget staring at his wife and thinking dirty thoughts." Oliver replied and Katie turned away with a shake of her head, heat on her cheeks. "Twinkie, it's fine, I have a meeting a little bit later-" she turned back to him. "And sure I'm supposed to be reading over some city ordinances, but I can do that-"

"Now, you're going to do it now." Katie said standing to her feet and walking over to pluck the child from his hands. "Work and if I even think you're getting distracted from your very important work, we're going to find someplace else to hide out in here." with that the woman turned and walked over to sit on the couch. She sat Robyn back in her stroller before grabbing a blanket and spreading it on the floor where she tossed out some of Robyn's toys before she lowered them both on the floor.

Oliver was trying his hardest to focus, to keep his eyes on the screen of his computer, but he would hear Robyn's tiny laugh and he couldn't help but turn his head. He smiled as he watched Katie playing with Robyn and soon he turned his chair and just watched them, content that this was how he could spend the rest of his day. He remembers imagining a moment like this and believing it would never happen. Katie lifted her eyes and he didn't have time to turn away and pretend as if he weren't just staring at them.

"Before you say anything, I'm taking a break." Oliver said and Katie shook her head not even believing him. They turned when the door to his office opened and in came Thea who glanced over to Katie and Robyn before turning to Oliver.

"Why do I get the feeling you didn't read over any of those ordinances for this meeting we have to go to."

"I did." Oliver said standing to his feet and walked around to his sister. "Well I read the titles, that's more than I thought I would do."

"I knew this wasn't a good idea." Katie says picking up Robyn and walking over to them. "We should find somewhere else to wait." she turned to Oliver.

"You know you say that as if he'd focus on anything other than trying to find out where you two were." Thea sighed before turning to her brother. "So I think I may have something we can hit Councilman Kullens with. I'll explain it on the way to the meeting." Oliver nodded before looking over to Katie for a moment and Thea could see a slight hesitation. "You're not sitting this meeting out Oliver."

"But what if I-" he turned to his sister who just shook her head before he turned back to his wife. "You know sometimes I feel like I don't have any control." Katie's brows rose at the comment and she couldn't help but laugh. "Fine, I'll go."

"And I'll see if someone can give us a tour of this place." Katie said and she saw that look in his eyes again. "I don't want to be stuck in your office all day."

"You won't, I promise. These meetings don't usually run long and when it's over I'll give you a tour myself." he said, placing a kiss on her cheek before kissing Robyn's cheek as well. Katie watched as he and Thea turned and left the office. Katie looked down at Robyn and let out a sigh.

"You know I think we could sneak out of here without your daddy knowing. What do you say?" a foul smell passed Katie's nose and she sighed as she walked over to the diaper bag. "You could've just said you thought it was a bad idea you know."

Ari was spending her lunch break inside of the library where for just a little while she could avoid everyone's stares. She was looking for a book to read for her English essay and she didn't know which one to choose.

"Hey," a voice spoke causing Ari to jump with a clenched fist. "Whoa, whoa, it' just me." the girl turned to Jamie who she hadn't seen since her party. She thought for sure he was avoiding her.

"What do you want Jamie?" she asked plucking a book from the shelf and walking away from him.

"I thought we should talk...about what happened."

"What's there to talk about? You came to my party, made out with the bane of my existence, and then I kicked her ass." Ari dropped back into her seat, flipping open the book.

"Well, I only remember about thirty-five percent of what happened that night. Someone spiked the punch and I was totally wasted. I don't even know that chick's name or why I was kissing her. All I remember is seeing that fight before I think I passed out." Ari didn't say anything and Jamie let out a sigh before taking the book from her hand. "You can't just ignore me."

"Yes I can." she said grabbing the book from his hand and turning to grab her backpack. "Look I'm fine with pretending that night didn't happen."

"Except it did and now my friend doesn't want to talk to me." Jamie said and Ari stopped and turned back to him. "And I'm not completely sure why." Ari looked at him for a moment before turning away too afraid of the words she wants to say right now. She turned back to the boy and opened her mouth to speak when suddenly the lights went out. "What the hell?"

"Alright students, stay calm." The librarian came from the office with a flashlight. "I'm sure the lights will be coming back on soon. Everyone will need to stay here until they do. "

Jamie turned when he saw Ari going for the door and he went to follow. "Hey, what are you doing? Ms. Baker said to stay here. "

"Then stay here." Ari said back to him. "I just want to see what's going on." and with that, the girl slipped out of the library, and unsure what else to do, Jamie followed after her.

The meeting lasted a bit longer than he anticipated so when it was over he tried his best not to look like he was in a hurry even though he really was. He only stopped just as he was about to go into his office.

"Oh, Mr. Queen," the man stopped and turned to his assistant. "Mrs. Queen isn't in there." Oliver turned to face the woman fully and she saw the seriousness on his face. "She said she was a bit hungry and wanted to go down to the cafeteria. I offered to go get her something, but she insisted on going herself. The guard is with her and your daughter."

"Thanks, Maddy." Oliver said before turning for the elevator.

"She told me to tell you not to go looking for her." Maddy said and Oliver stopped and turned back to her. "She said you should be working and that she could find her way from the cafeteria back to your office without your help." Oliver noticed the slight smile on the woman's face.

"Did she say anything else?"

"Nothing I feel comfortable repeating sir," the woman said with a slight laugh as she walked back over to her desk. Oliver turned back to the elevator, the doors opening and he let out a nervous breath. He wanted nothing more than to step through those doors and find her because the nervousness and the fear only went away when she was with him. He's also certain that she really will hit him if he goes searching for her and so he takes another deep breath before heading back toward his office.

Oliver had only stepped inside of his office when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out to see Hank's number and he felt his heart drop. Hank was leading the team watching Ari at school. Oliver quickly answered.

"Hank, what's wrong?"

" _I'm not quite sure sir._ " Hank said. _"There's a power outage at the school."_

"Where's Ari?" Oliver asked turning about to leave.

" _Still inside the building. I caught her and some kid walking down the hall alone so I grabbed them both and we're secured in the gym. My guys have gone around the building and nothing seems to be up. It's looking like just an electrical issue, but I thought I would let you know what's going on."_

"I appreciate it, Hank. Just stay with Ari."

" _Yes sir. I was going to call Mrs. Queen and give her the update as well."_

Oliver turned when Katie came back into the office, Robyn secured with one arm, a bag in her other.

"That's not necessary, she came to City Hall with me. I'll let her know what's going on."

" _Yes sir."_

Katie walked over to Oliver when he pulled the phone from his ear. "What's going on?"

"There's a power outage at Star City High." Oliver said and Katie's eyes widen. "Ari's fine, Hank is with her. He thinks it's just an electrical issue."

"Well excuse me if I'm not trusting the opinions of our security team." Katie says walking over to sit Robyn on her blanket. "I'll call Felicity to check it out." she turns back to Oliver. "I'll let you know what she says." Oliver didn't say anything before he took a step toward the woman. "Don't you dare, this doesn't change anything. Get back to work." He didn't stop and she really didn't expect him to as he brought his hands around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She relented, bringing her arms around him.

"You're right, when you're here, and I can look at you and touch you, I will choose to do those things over working," Oliver said and Katie just smiled at him.

"Which is why we should go home." Katie said and Oliver just shook his head. "You know we can't just hide out in your office every time someone threatens to hurt you."

"But you can." Oliver replied and Katie laughed at him. "Twinkie, it wouldn't matter if you were at home or standing here in my arms. I would always think about you."

"I remember once upon a time, that would've scared the crap out of you." she replied and Oliver chuckled but gave a nod.

"Once upon a time it did, but now I accept that I am completely and entirely in love with my wife and I will do anything for her. Even bring her and our daughter to my office so I can make sure they're safe. And I know it's not a permanent solution but for now, it works."

"You working has to also be apart of the plan because Mr. Mayor, you have an important job. Now go back to your desk and read boring reports."

"Fine, but I will take a second or two...or three, to watch my wife and daughter."

"I can live with that." Katie says pulling out of his grasp and walking back over to take a seat on the floor beside Robyn. "No dirty thoughts though. At least while there's a child in the room." Oliver smiled as Katie turned to him with a smile.

"I'm sure Thea wouldn't mind spending some Super-aunt time with her niece so I could share these thoughts with you. In great detail." Katie bit the corner of her lip before turning away. "And if you want me to get any work done, you're not going to bite your lip again." Katie turned to him with a quirked brow and he can see that challenge she wants to set, but instead, she just shakes her head and turns back to Robyn. Oliver let out a sigh before walking back over to sit at his desk to once again read over the never-ending list of unread emails in his inbox.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: And we’re back!


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